KRDK: Water Clock
by the Mirage Prismatic
Summary: Following the venting of Chris, Earth's Kamen Rider Sting, Xaviax targets his younger sister as another pawn to use to against Kit and Len in their quest to protect the Earth, manipulating their emotions to his advantage. With both Kit's father and Chris' sister at risk there may come a point when they have to choose who to save... Chapter 20: Battle Reprieve
1. Clear the Water

**Disclaimer:** A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang and Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance.

Takes place after Sting was vented. This was salvaged from my other KRDK fiction; "Wing's Knight's Tale" (renamed 'Secrets of the Advent'). Despite the less-than-stellar plot, there were some bits I liked. First (posted) KRDK since the show ended/was canceled.

Okay, canon gave me a hard time about the precise time frame of this 'canonish' story so this takes place during/after 'Letter From the Front Line' and before Kase makes her appearance. You'll figure out all the other timing things as you read. Some canon events have been pushed back a bit.

_Private Thoughts, _"_Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, __**"Vent Announcement."**_

_**Edited: 2-27-2012**_

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><p><em><strong>Full Story Summary<strong>_

Chris Ramirez, the Terran Kamen Rider Sting, was a medically discharged asthmatic Marine who had grown up wanting to and being expected to carry on the family tradition as a Marine. His asthma was a constant bane to him, rendering him unable to fight for long periods of time and making him, ultimately the weakest link when he saw past Xaviax's lies and joined Wing Knight and Dragon Knight (Len Matheson* and Kit Taylor) in their fight for Earth.

And this weakness led him to sacrifice himself to prevent Wing Knight's venting, invoking mourning and guilt amongst the friends he had made during his tenure as a Kamen remnants of Chris's legacy manifests as his younger sister, a talented graduate of military school with a special gift and Xaviax will do everything in his power to use her blood relation with the fallen Marine against the Protectors of Earth.

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><p><em><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Fanfiction<strong>_

_**Clepsydra - Chapter 1: Clear the Water**_

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><p>Len had thought he should quit being a Rider after Chris's venting but he knew it was stupid. The Earth was in danger, the Ventarran people were enslaved and all the original Riders had been vented. Kit, Maya and Trent needed his guidance, his experience because if he was vented or if her quit, Kit would continue to fight and Maya and Trent would put themselves in danger trying to help him.<p>

On the streets of Los Angeles, Len wove his motorbike through traffic with the ease of practice, not even worrying about his destination.

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><p><em><strong>Gramercy Heights Park - 9:55 am<strong>_

Len guided his cycle on foot, helmet on seat, across a wide concrete road towards a wide lawn where people were already gathering. Narrowing his eyes against the glare of the sun glinting off the clear blue waters of the very lake for which the park was nick named, he replaced his sunglasses and parked the bike next to a pile of rocks. A wide space had been left open in the grassy valley before the lake, trees lining the valley. Some had dared to invade the flat space, some clusters of trees creating shade.

Len took control of the tree cluster arching over a smooth grass filled spot of the rock pile, in a two-person sized space, stretching out against the smooth rock face in the shade of the tree cluster, settling down to wait. The area was filled with chatting teenagers and families, couples on blankets holding hands, picnicking people, sunbathers...Len took it all in, analyzing the area just as he learned to the hard way in his younger days as a Rider.

As he glanced around, a nine person group of young men and women around the ages of 15 and 25, stopped at the valley's center and began setting up their supplies and exercise mats. Two of them were clearly just assistants. A tall red-haired man in blue jeans and a green shirt—whom Len knew as Dylan from previous shows –was giving orders, giving words of encouragement to the performers.

Every week on a good weather Friday, this troupe would pop down here to the park and perform for whoever showed up. It was almost always different: Len found it hard to believe they could keep churning out new material.

Whenever he could, Len watched simply to relax and ease his stormy mind but he knew none of their names. The six performers were wearing long white robes with long hoods drawn over their faces as if they were sorcerers or something, so it was impossible to see their faces for the moment. With a sigh of frustration, Len sat down again, folding his arms and leaning back.

The crowd began to quiet down as Dylan moved forward. He waved for quiet as the troupe arranged themselves in formation behind him.

"Thank you all for coming," he called the same way he did every Friday. "I am Dylan. Today, we've come up with an interesting bit, something new," The crowd murmured excitedly: anything new was always a treat. "We're going to need everyone to stand back," he instructed, gesturing with his hands. There was no argument; the front row shuffled backward.

"And now the Soul Star acrobatic troupe humbly presents to you..." If it had been a theater, the lights would've turned down dramatically. "The Dance of Swords."

Immediately, the troupe had spun into action as the girl threw aside their robes into the hands of one of the two assistants, revealing 3 girls and 3 boys in colorful costumes of different designs but same color theme of maroon and black.

They sprang into the air even as the silver glint of unsheathed swords flashed through the air, ribbons whirling as the girls flipped through hoops, thrown into the air. One girl dressed in a mahogany knee length tunic tied by a black silk sash and loose black breeches whipped out a sword, rolling to her feet as her blade met that of a fellow performer with a clash of steel. Her shoulder length brown hair was tied out of her face by a long white ribbon tied into a bow.

She whirled, completely focused, closing her eyes as she spun into a crouch, getting into the feel of it all as her blade swung towards her opponent's feet as if preparing to relieve him of his legs. The other sword flashed through the air as he sprang above it, the blade just nicking the thick leather sandals as he cut downwards. He missed because the sword dancing girl had twirled to her feet with little effort and flipped upwards through the hoops landing on the shoulders of two male performers.

Len let all thoughts of Xaviax fade away, letting himself just _live_ for a little bit, be a normal person as he watched the mahogany and black blur work in sync with her comrades as they danced in the air, wowing the crowds and steal their breath away with daring heart stopping movements and tricks.

He stood up to get a better view, glasses off as he leaned against the tree.

As he watched, the performance grew more dangerous as torches were added, tossed from hand to hand, through hoops thrown higher and higher as the girls leaped higher still, into the air, bending their bodies through and over hoops or coils of ribbon. The crowd was silent, completely enthralled, utterly spellbound. Not even a baby cried, their big eyes opened wide in amazement.

At last though, the progression higher into the air ended as they journeyed to the ground once more until only the Sword Dancer remained, defying the laws of gravity, leaping and flipping up the five-person pyramid as a girl assistant tossed several plates and a hoop into the air gently but with height as they spun ten feet above the ground.

She sprang into the air with a slight boost from the pyramid's top girl, the sword flashing like a silver streak, cutting through the plates like butter with quick efficient slashes. Cutting shapes of flowers, of crescents, she made no more strokes than necessary. They clattered to the ground as her foot tapped the still airborne hoop and she flipped to the ground, landing cat-like on her feet and sheathing her sword even as she fell into a deep bow on one knee, eyes to the ground. She was breathing hard but not very, not even out of breath. She had been well trained and had clearly put in hours, even years, of effort and practice.

There was a stunned silence, the silence nearly becoming overwhelming in the shocked ten second time span between the final stunts and…. The valley exploded into sound, erupting: anyone coming by might have though it was an actual explosion. Whistles and cheers rang out; cries of "Encore, Encore!" could be heard in the din of noise. Some had been stunned into silence.

Len just smiled, a delighted smile and clapped.

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><p><em><strong>10:35 AM<strong>_

The show was over. Everyone was packing their things or sticking around for picnics and a day of fun. Len, though, had better things to do than sit around under the sun…although it was a nice prospect…Len shook his head clear of any stupid ideas, skidding down the rocks with ease and landing next to his motorcycle. Prefect; just as he'd left it.

He glanced over at where he'd last seen the troupe. Some were accepting donations and praise from families, couples and enthusiastic kids, most of whom were imitating the swordplay. The others were packing their equipment into a large van.

Len couldn't keep a small smile from his face. A lot of parents were going to have their hands full upon returning home that night. Not wanting to get mixed up in all of that chaos, he hung back, keeping the Sword Dancer in his sights. She was smiling, her dark brown eyes crinkled in amused laughter as she signed something for an eager looking boy.

Her long dark brown hair was tied back into a braid, bangs falling in her right eye. Her lightly tanned skin seemed smooth but laced with several long healed scars and her fingers looked to be bandaged with long white tape. Len frowned, circling around the group casually on his motorbike. Why did she look so familiar?

"Hey, Neva, you wanna come with us? We're all going down to the pizza shack later." One of the other troupe members, the Asian boy from the performance attempted to make his spiky and messy hair more orderly although it was obvious his attempts were futile.

"Nah, I was gonna head over to the museum and then look around for my brother." she explained, gathering her silver-hemmed jean jacket and slipping it on over her acrobat clothes. She picked up her backpack. "I'll meet up with you later."

"He still hasn't called you back?"

"Not since he and Dad had a huge shouting match and he ran out of the house. He was really bummed out about his asthma, you know? And Dad is such a thickhead-he cares more about tradition than his son's own life it seems."

Len's ears pricked. Her brother had asthma? A father who hated it? What tradition? Why did this sound so familiar?

A feeling of dread began to gather in Len and he breathed, forcing himself to calm down. _**Don't jump to conclusions.**_

"Well, I'll see you guys later." Neva said, setting off as she waved goodbye over her shoulder.

"You're not gonna change? We gotta a tent this time!" One of the girls called.

"No, I'm fine. See you later!"

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><p>Len darted behind the tree, revving his motorcycle and heading around on the opposite path on the other side of the lawn. He drove slowly, watching her carefully. She was in a rush in seemed and she kept up a steady jog, before arriving at the entrance to the park. Dashing pass people and families, smiling and waving calling politely to everyone, she dodged around them as a kid slapped bang into her, dropping his action figure.<p>

As he watched, before the kid could do more than open his mouth as it went sailing through the air, Neva had woven through traffic, used a bench seat as a springboard and leaped, hopping off the bench back and snatched it out of the air. She landed lightly on the bench's back edge with one foot but slipped, pin wheeling her arms and hopped off in an attempt to regain center-gravity. It didn't work and she ended up slipping and collapsing in a tangled heap with a shriek of surprise and dismay. She groaned as Len stared. The family rushed to her aid, babbling apologies.

Fortunately, she seemed to perfectly fine, hopping it her feet as if nothing had happened. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she assured them, making more excuses as she dashed off, shouting good bye over her shoulder. Len had a hard time following her through the crowds and had to resort to the mirrors several times.

Len followed her to an empty plaza of buildings - walls of glass and white stone on all sides, red-tiled courtyard.

"Oops. I think I took a wrong turn..." She twisted a strand of hair in her hand as she jogged across the empty square, looking around curiously. Len's eyes narrowed. No cover…a strange warping, piercing sound, sharper than any music met his ears.

_Damn it._

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><p>Neva was getting a prickly feeling on the back her neck. Walking quickly, she scanned the area, her hand wrapping around something tucked into the waistband of her pants. She shifted her stance, scanning the are and spotted a man on motorcycle out of the corner of her eye. She paused, not moving, not wanting to give herself away.<p>

Wasn't he at the park earlier? Something else caught her attention a movement. She turned towards it slowly, poised for battle and shrieked in surprise as several red and black figures with giant shuriken on their backs, emerged from the windows running towards her. She swore slowly, pushing her mind's clamor for a logical explanation away, focusing on using her sight.

One of the mirror monsters attacked her determinedly, swinging what looked to be a strange-looking giant shuriken. She ducked, hands poised as she threw a few punches to its gut and flipped backwards, landing on her feet.

She heard a whoosh of wind behind her; she whipped around as the thunk of leather hide hit hard muscle covered by denim jeans. She turned slightly, dodging a swing of a strange weapon as another monster went flying backwards disarmed and sent flying as the rescuer, whoever he or she was, leapt into the air, delivering a painful sounding kick in its chest.

Neva gaped at him as he took a defensive pose, guarding her back. "Thought you needed some help," He said casually, his gaze roving over the ten or so mirror monsters advancing towards them.

"Who _are_ you?" Her tone was meant to sound commanding; instead she sounded flustered.

"Not really important right now," he murmured. He darted to the side, kicking out at a bolder monster that'd advanced too close.

"Left, Left!" Neva darted in the opposite direction, lunging forward and twisting her arm around the attacking Red Newt's and flipping onto its shoulders, facing away from its face…or what passed as a face. She fell forward on another's shoulders tilting the other one forward and slamming them into each other and launching herself over the dissipating monsters, landing on her feet softly in a crouch, holding most of her weight off the ground. She felt a wave of satisfaction. It had taken her at least six months to master that.

She gasped as a Black Newt darted into her path, attacking with a long sword as another grabbed her from behind, inducing another gasp of shock as it pulled her arms behind her back. A growl of anger sounded from behind her as the mystery man came between her and the monster, twisting into the air and landing right on its arms as he punched it in the face. It released her, immediately sending her crashing onto the ground again as it stumbled back from the stranger's furious assault.

The other monster attacked her again, raising its long sword and chopping down with it as if it was an axe. Neva rolled to her feet and swung her foot in a neat crescent kick that quickly disarmed the mirror monster and sent the sword into the air. She darted for it, sliding under the monster's reaching hand expertly and retrieving the sword, snatching it out of the air, loving the way it settled into her palm with ease.

She whipped it up into the guard position, ducking the monster's fist and attacking with a battle dance of whirling slashes and cuts, flipping and weaving out of the way of the clumsily swings of the monster's giant shuriken.

It felt strangely natural to be fighting an other-worldly monster but maybe that was just the fight talking. _Fight now, think , escape._

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><p><strong>It's always nice to be able to rescue a story from a fiery demise. :) Please review and tell me what you think!<strong>

*** Clepsydra: (to steal water) Means water thief. Was a Greek Water Clock**

*** Len Matheson (It annoys me when characters don't have last names. His surname is in honor of the actor who portrays Len, Matt Mullins.)**

**-Updates should come every Thursday unless stated otherwise.**


	2. Against the Current

**Disclaimer:** A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang, Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance.

_Private Thoughts/Flashbacks, _"_Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, **"Vent Announcement."**_

And thank you to Kamen Rider Lynx for reviewing, faving and alerting this story. :)

**Edited - 4/5/2012**

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><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Water Clock - Chapter 2: Against the Current**

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><p>11: 05 am<p>

Len dispatched the new Black Newts and its Red Newt relations with ease; they were no challenge. He smirked, feeling the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he tossed another beast to the ground, watching it dissipate into black shadowy smoke. _Wait_…

His thin smirk vanished in a flash. _The girl!_

He looked up, eyes intense behind the black lenses, his eyes meeting a shocking sight, only a few meters away.

The girl was doing exceptionally well, dodging swings of the Black Newt's shuriken, countering with its confiscated long sword. She whirled back from it, a reckless unconscious smile gracing her face as she took a stance, one leg bent inward the other extended and yet she seemed perfectly balanced, the sword held in a reverse hold behind her back with the other held in front of her for balance, defending her torso as she shifted into an easy lunge stance and ran towards it.

She darted forward, bringing the sword it front of her, still in a reverse hold, darting to the right and cutting to the side with it, making a direct diagonal slash to its torso as she brought the blade upwards, using a sweep of the leg to bring it down.

The Red Newts hit the ground, its shuriken tumbling out of its hand and sliding across the bricked surface as she brought her sword point to its throat. A dangerous smile replaced the reckless one, true satisfaction flashing in her amber brown eyes. A foot crashed into its torso as it tried to rise. "Newsflash; you lose."

Her eyes widened as the monster darkened like smoke and wisped into shadowy clear wisps as it faded beneath her sneaker, taking the sword with it. She yelped and immediately lost her balance as he watched, hitting the ground.

"Ow!" the acrobat complained loudly and moaned, curling into a ball. "Ooowww…"

The veteran Rider contained an unusual feeling of mirth, a smile crossing his face as he jogged over to the sore girl.

She jumped he approached, wincing. "Hey, it's alright. " She looked up, squinting at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for helping me."

He bent to his knees, looking into her eyes briefly. "Hey, you look bruised," he said gesturing to her arms. "Lemme see that," She scrutinized him for a moment and slowly extended an arm to him, unfolding it from her chest, wincing and letting it rest in his hands. "You didn't answer my first question," he informed her, examining the bruises with gentle but firm cool fingertips.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think…kinda sore though. Thanks for helping me."

He nodded, humming in acknowledgment. "You're welcome." He looked at her briefly with a reassuring flickering smile before lowering his gaze back to the bruises.

"Haven't I seen you before, somewhere?"

"Hm…maybe," His fingers skimmed over the purple and blue bruise that ruined the golden-toffee complexion of her other arm. He'd avoided the question and her eyes narrowed, but not in anger.

"You avoided the question," she informed him smartly.

"I didn't," he objected. "Maybe you have seen me; maybe I've see you, each sighting occurring without the other knowing it did. So as far as I know, no, you haven't seen me before. Does this hurt?" He barely gave her time to ponder his previous statement, pressing down on the bruise lightly. She frowned as he looked up to see her reaction, still avoiding her gaze.

"It's annoying," she replied at last, inducing another chuckle from him. He lowered his gaze back to her bruises.

"It looks to be only a surface injury. You should be fine. You handled the sword and monsters pretty well by the way."

_"_Thanks,"

He grinned, she could tell even though she couldn't see his face; his fingers skimmed over the bruises once more. "Just put some ice on it." he advised, standing and bringing her to her feet.

"We've spent too much time here. We'd better get going before those monsters come back. Let's go."

Neva frowned slightly.

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><p><em>"You got a problem, solider boy?"<em>

_"Neva, stay out of the way!" Chris jumped out of his seat, rushing towards Neva and Jake._

_Neva panicked, ducking out of the way as one of the three thugs lunged for Jake. Regaining her balance, she swung a roundhouse kick into another thug, attracting his attention as Chris tackled him from behind, hooking his arms around his throat._

_The other bar patrons were getting as far from the fight as possible as Neva ducked a swing from the remaining goon, putting up a shield block at her head followed by a quick punch to his stomach._

_"Get back!" Chris commanded, kicking his opponent into Neva's. Neva darted out of the way, letting the two thugs crash into each other as Jake tripped the other goon into a direct face-plant._

"_Neva, you okay?" one of the other NROTC guys asked from behind her. She jumped._

_"Yeah, I'm fine."_

_"You sure?" Chris asked before letting out a burst of coughs._

_"Me, what about you?" Chris waved her off, regaining control of himself, hand in his pocket._

_"It's okay, Nev. I'm fine. Really. Let's go, before they get up." Her brother said, ushering her out of the bar, quickly followed by the other NROTC* cadets._

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><p><em>Chris...<em>

"Hey, are you okay?" the mystery guy was asking.

Neva shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. "Yeah. I was just...thinking about my brother."

The man paused, his expression sympathetic. "We should go." he pressed.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they crossed the plaza to his bike, sounding completely as if she had acceptance of this new reality that she'd been abruptly forced into.

"Wherever you need to go." He replied. "It's the least I can do." He dropped her hand, bending to assess the onyx black motorcycle for any damages. "Just gimme a sec…"

"It's not your fault I was attacked by those monster things," she argued.

"How do you know that's the truth?" he challenged suddenly, whirling to his feet smoothly, meeting her eyes and forcing a cold intense look into his gaze. Suddenly, he was angry. "You shouldn't be so trusting,"

Neva took a step back but drew herself up, eyes narrowed, staring him down. Or up. She was shorter than him. She barely came up to his chin. "Because my brother is a Marine-my family is made of Marines-and they're honorable and you have the same qualities. I'm a good judge of character, sir."

"That doesn't necessarily mean I'm the good guy," he warned. Why did it bother him so much that this girl just accepted all of this without question? Maya had trusted him when he saved her for the second time, from that green shark Mirror Monster. Why hadn't he lectured her?

"I have a good vibe about you."

The man just stared at her, grumbled and turned back to his bike. She wondered if she had been dismissed.

"Hey, where did my backpack go?" Neva frowned and turned around, hands on her hips. "Did those monsters steal it?" she scowled.

"You probably dropped it in the fight. What did it look like?"

"Oh, you know...military issue. Leather, lots of pockets."

"Is that it?" he asked, pointing to the windows behind the support pillars of the empty plaza buildings.

She jogged over to investigate; Len frowned. But then again she had reacted to the advent portal opening and she could see the monsters. But the question was, how?

He trailed after her, keeping a wary eye out for Red Newts as she rummaged in the pack. "It's all here!" she announced in relief.

He nodded absently, glimpsing something in the windows. "Hm…?" Shimmering colours rippled across the mirror as Dragon Knight appeared. "Kit? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing. I came because I heard the commotion. But _you_, as usual, beat me to it."

"What are you doing then?"

"Yeah, I'm just cleaning up the mess, you know, just a regular garbage boy," the young rider joked. "Maybe we should...watch her? After all they did bring a lot of reinforcements for just one girl. A little odd, in my opinion. " He looked thoughtful, hand on hip, sword in his other hand.

"True," Len mused. "No, I'll keep an eye on her for a bit. Just follow in case they attempt a repeat."

"Are you talking to your reflection?" the Sword Dancer piped up, from one of the pillars. "Pretty vain if you ask me." Len would've jumped but maintained some degree of control.

"I was thinking aloud," he replied, turning to her with a warning sideways look at Dragon Knight in the glass.

"Oh, okay." she nodded, walking back his bike. Len followed.

"Nice bike."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you ride motorcycles?"

"Never by myself. My aunt freaked out when I mentioned I wanted one and the folks got me a car instead. But my brother use to let me ride with him sometimes." A flicker of sadness drifted across her face as she ran her hands over the motorcycle.

"Use to?"

"He and Dad had an argument. He needed to clear his head so he left."

"I'm sorry." Len said, lacking anything else to say.

"Me too."

There was a moment's pause before Len stepped up the bike and handed her his helmet. "I said I'd take you anywhere you need to go. We've waited around here too long."

"Right." Neva slipped the helmet on. "You don't have an extra?"

"No. But I'll be fine." he assured the acrobat, helping her put the helmet on and board the motorcycle. Mounting up on the seat in front, he tapped the young woman's wrist. "You may wanna hold on," he cautioned as he revved the bike.

She obeyed, leaning forward into his back to wrap her arms around his waist with only a little hesitation, making sure her bag was secure.

"Are you okay? I can walk ya know," He felt her hand settle on his shoulder; he shrugged it off

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He replied gruffly, ignoring the pang of guilt at her expression reflected in the rearview mirror; she hadn't put the visor down. "Where to?"

"The Olympic Plaza Museum."* she instructed.

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><p><strong>Fortress of Xaviax<strong>

In his human form, Xaviax watched Len and Neva drive off and shut down the mirror image, grumbling darkly to himself. "Wing Knight...always interfering in my plans..."

"Mr. Trademore!"

James looked up from his seat, flipping a gold coin in his fingers. "Yes, General."

"Your plan to use Kit's father as bait? Postpone it. I want that girl." He jabbed a finger at the mirror glass as her image appeared again, riding with Wing Knight and it dissolved to show a still picture of her, standing over Chris Ramirez with the aid of a bench, laughing as she held something over his head.

"Call back Axe and Spear to help you."

James tapped his advent deck in his hand, looking thoughtful. "Is she Plan B?"

"Kit Taylor has only one key weakness - his loved ones and now that Sting is gone both he and Len will feel obligated to protect her and she will be outraged at her brother's death. It's too good to pass up. But we must act quickly."

"But Kit's father can act as insurance. We'll have to be careful Miss Neva doesn't find out though - just in case."

"The Red Newts will guard Mr. Taylor. Where are Axe and Spear?"

"Out taunting Dragon Knight."

"Make sure he isn't vented."

"Of course. I'll call them back and have them help me capture Miss Neva."

"Good. But I should warn you - she'd just be another human if she wasn't unique."

"Unique?"

"She's a psychic. Untrained but she also grew up in a Marine family. Next to Mr. Taylor this girl is our top-priority."

James smiled and nodded respectfully. "Of course, General."

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><p><em>AN: And the plot thickens! Please review. And for some reason, the FFN doc manager keeps **smashing all the italics together** and I have to fix it every bloody time._

_That is so annoying._

_*The Olympic Plaza Museum does not exist, to my knowledge._

_*NROTC is the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, a college-based recruiting program for officers for the Navy and Marine Corps._


	3. Ripple Effect

**Disclaimer:** A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang, Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance.

My apologies for the late posting; my internet was on the fritz and Thanksgiving distracted me. I also wanted to go visit my older brother yesterday. :) Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for reviewing. Enjoy!

_Private Thoughts, _"_Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, ~Spirit-Voice~. **"Vent Announcement."**_

**Edited: 4-5-2012**

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><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Fanfiction<strong>

**Cry of the Ocean: Clepsydra - Chapter 3: Ripple Effect**

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><p><strong><em>Grace's Bookshop<em>—_11: 25 am_**

Kit stopped his bike in front of _Grace's Books, _turning off the engine and removing the helmet, securing both to a nearby pole before walking inside the now familiar shop.

Maya, who was leaning against the counter and Trent, who was standing behind the counter, both looked up as the door chime rang.

"Kit, you're back." Kit looked exhausted, his eyes blurred, his leather jacket half-shifted off his shoulders. Maya straightened it. "What happened?"

"Axe and Spear happened." he breathed, leaning against the counter. "I tried to take them on by myself."

"Two of them?" Trent questioned. "But those guys are-"

"If I had vented them before Chris will still be here."

"Venting them now _won't_ bring him back." Maya reasoned. "You need to rest a bit."

With a deep sigh, Kit's mind flickered back to Chris and the fact his things were safe in his apartment and his motorcycle was waiting for its rider to return.

"I'm fine, Maya. It's nothing. This is my fault. I need fix this."

Maya's face darkened as she gripped his arm. "You are _not _fine. You are going to go lie down and take a nap on the couch _right now_."

"But Maya, Strike-"

Maya tugged his arm throwing him off balance and silenced him with a dangerous look. "You've been running yourself into the ground and it's been a long week. You can't save anyone if you don't sleep sometimes. Now are you gonna walk there yourself or do I have to drag you?"

Kit sighed, an amused smile on his lips as he shuffled into the backroom. "Okay, Mom, I'm going."

Trent covered a grin as Maya shoved him playfully.

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><p>The Museum <strong><br>**

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><p>A black bike burdened with two people cruised through red bricked streets of the Olympic Plaza. The sun rays beat down on the humans relentlessly, the sky void of any helpful clouds. People bustled around them, children squealing in delight at the sight of the motorcycle as parents hustled them away.<p>

It was like a carnival really only more permanent, palm trees waving in the breeze, providing a useful double service to the populace as shade and natural decoration, benches set under them. There were a few motorcycles; no cars, lemonade and fruit carts scattered around in front of little sturdily built wooden buildings. It was cheery here and packed full of life and passerby. Len drove slowly through the crowds and pulled to another stop several stores down from a nice pizza shack.

There were alley ways between buildings, leading to a maze of darkened back streets, the sunlight chasing the shadows away.

At the end of the plaza was a vast building of gleaming yellow stone. Built in the style of an ancient Greek temple, sunlight reflected off of the surface, three sets of sweeping stairs curving up to the entrances. People streamed in an out and vendors had set up around it peddling their wares.

Len glanced up at the towering museum, through his dark sunglasses. "Is this it?"

"Yup!" Neva as Len dismounted from the bike and lifted her off the bike as if she didn't weigh a thing. "You didn't have to do that you know. I'm not totally incapable."

"Chivalry." Len said simply as she pulled the helmet off and handed it back to him. "Thanks."

"I should be thanking you. Thanks for helping me. And for driving me here."

"You're awfully cheerful, considering," he commented, setting the helmet on the bike seat.

She shrugged. "What's the point in worryin' over it, anyways? I'll take it as it comes. But I suppose you have to go now,"

"I should,"

"By the way, do you know what they were?" she asked, staring at him intently.

He narrowed his eyes. "I wish I did but no."

She did not look as if she believed him but smiled. "Really, you don't?"

"Positive," What he said or done to make her suspicious? "Will you be okay?"

"I should be," she agreed. "It's not if, I'm _completely_ defenseless. So, will you come to the park performances again?" He flinched. "I remembered. You were at the performances earlier, weren't you?"

Damn, she noticed just about everything didn't she? He should've just stayed in the shadows; he couldn't _afford_ to make friends-he had a _job_.

"My name's Neva by the way." she added cheerfully. "Neva Ramirez."

Len froze. _Ramirez. Chris Ramirez. _Her brother was a Marine, had asthma and a father who was furious about it. His son had unintentionally broken their family tradition.

_Is it possible? He never mentioned a sister._

He felt an uncomfortable lump in his throat. "Len." he said as he revved the engine. "Take care of yourself." The engine roared as he wheeled around, slamming the visor of his helmet down.

"Wait, why-"

The motorcycle zoomed down the street, trailing wind and dust in its wake. Neva coughed.

She smiled a little sadly as she watched him disappear around a corner, feeling wistful. "Some good Samaritan,' she muttered.

* * *

><p>"Neva Ramirez. She looks so <em>much<em> like her dear brother." James Trademore, parked across the street, pulled off his helmet as Len's bike vanished down a side street. "She should be easy pickings now," the man secured his bike and followed the acrobat into the museum.

* * *

><p>Len stopped at a traffic light and pulled up to the curb, pulling out the Tracfone Maya had kindly brought him despite his protests and dialing one of the few numbers he had bothered memorize<p>

_"Hello, Grace's Books."_

Len sighed, running his hand over his hair. "Maya, it's Len."

_"Hey, Len."_ Maya greeted._ "Is something wrong?"_

"No." he said shortly. "Is Kit there?"

_"Yeah but he's taking a nap."_

Len raised an eyebrow. "A _nap_?" They didn't have time for _naps._

_"Maya made him._" Trent chimed in-the phone must be on speaker.

_"Be quiet, Trent!"_

"Never mind that" Len interrupted. He sighed. "Listen, Maya, I think we may have a problem. It's Chris-related."

_"Chris-related?_" Maya asked, her voice laced with concern. _"Is it about his dad?"_

"Not exactly. He never mentioned it, but I think he has a sister."

_"A sister?"_

"Yeah. I went to the park today to cool off, watching an acrobats performance and I heard one of them talking about her brother. Apparently, he has asthma. His father was angry that he was breaking tradition and they're all _Marines_. Her name's Neva Ramirez - she was attacked by Newt Minions."

_"That sounds like too many coincidences to me."_ Trent said.

_"It does."_ Maya agreed._ "Len, you need to find out what her brother's name is. Just to be sure. Can you find her again?"_

"Yeah, I dropped her off not too far from where I— " He paused as the advent chime went off. "am now. And she's in trouble. Again. Wake up, Kit. I'll need him."

Maya sighed. _"And I just convinced him to rest…"_

"He can get all the sleep he needs when the day is over,"

* * *

><p>Neva wandered the galleries of the God's Hall; crisp intact life-sized white statues lined the center walk way, replicas of the original sculptures; Twelve Olympians in total plus many more lining the walls of the vast marble stone room. She was the only one here and she found the solitude calming. Beyond each line of statues in the center walk was a long pool of water, small streams trickling into the other halls of the museum.<p>

Beautiful motifs graced the arches above the vast doors and frescoes decorated the walls.

Neva sighed, stopping by the statue of Apollo, god of the sun and healing. She had stopped in the ladies room to change out of her acrobatic wear; now she wore loose black exercise pants with a close fitting short sleeved dark turquoise shirt. There was a black bead necklace at her throat, the beads created to look like three dimensional hexagons. A purple watch went around her wrist and she wore black summer sandals.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Neva jumped as she spun around; she had been so at peace she hadn't been paying attention. She scolded herself silently as she turned to face a man with dark blonde hair dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. _Biker_. She mentally decided. But Chris hadn't worn leather jackets—just sweatshirts.

Why was she meeting so many bikers today? Where they friends or something?

"Yeah, I love it here," Neva agreed, turning back to the statues.

"I haven't seen you around here before," Thereby implying he came here often.

"I haven't been around-been busy." she explained. "And who are you?"

"Sorry about that," the man replied, extending a hand and Neva grasped it firmly in a handshake. "Call me James. And you must be Neva." She stiffened, eyes narrowing. "Your brother told me so much about you." he continued.

"What's his name?" Neva asked, sounding suspicious.

"Christopher Ramirez. Medically discharged marine. Sound about right?"

"Yes..."

James released her hand and pulled out a wallet. "He gave this to me." he said, handing her a picture. She unfolded it, blinking in surprise.

"How did you get this?" she muttered holding it up. It was of her and Chris; she was standing on a bench, holding a frisbee over his head, with her arm draped across his shoulder and they were both smiling.

"I told you; your brother gave it to me. He really missed you."

"Where-?"

"Your name fits you by the way."

"Excuse me?"

"It means snow and you're _freezing_ even though it's summer in Los Angeles."

Neva smiled. "Yeah, Chris use to joke about that all the time too. How do you know him?"

"Bookstore. "he said, strolling through the plaza and prompting her to follow. "We started a conversation. He was mostly browsing the technical section on combat,"

"His specialty was mechanics and close-combat." Neva explained. "You?"

"I'm a computer expert. I hire out my services to small software businesses mostly. I was having trouble with my bike when I ran into your brother at the bookstore and he was a great help."

"So, you're good with computer but not with motorcycles?"

"I'll have you know that the two are _vastly_ different." he defended, earning a peal of laughter from the girl. James smiled to himself. _This_ _isn't_ _so_ _hard._ _Mention her brother and she goes soft._

"These are the gardens," James explained as he led her through a long marble corridor. One wall was completely of glass, revealing a beautiful Greek-style garden complete with statues of athletes.

"It's like we're actually stepping through time!" Neva gasped in awe, eyes shining. James smiled and nodded in agreement as chiming sounded in his ears. He could see the mirror monsters beyond the glass ready to strike.

~….._snake...~_

Neva's head jerked sharply.

"What is it?" James asked, sounding concerned.

Neva shook her head. "No...I just thought I heard something. Must've imagined it."

_~...careful. ….away from... He's poisonous...cobra.~_

_Am I going crazy?_

* * *

><p><em>Is it just me or is this story moving slowly? Anyway, please review and hoped you enjoyed.<em>


	4. Rising Tsunami

**Disclaimer:** A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang, Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance.

Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for being a loyal reviewer. :) the action should be turned up soon but let's get on with it. Oh and, I just remembered that Today is 'Clepsydra Update Day' right in the middle of my preparations for my presentation tomorrow. So, I'm taking a break to post this. BE GRATEFUL!

Oh, and I should warn you. I have six chapters written and I INTENDED to keep writing them so reader(s) wouldn't have to wait so long for them. Unfortunately, I got distracted by life and my novel (which has...12 chapters...13?) and it's being difficult as well as distracting me from the rest of my life. So, bear with me. If you want to what else is going with me (though I wonder who would want to really...maybe it's just because this archive is under-visited) check my deviantart journal. Link should be in the profile. Anyway enough with my non-story related rabbles.

Read and enjoy!

__Private Thoughts, _"_Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, ~Spirit-Voice~. **"Vent Announcement/remember words."**__

_**Edited: 4-5-2012**_

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Cry of the Ocean - Clepsydra: Chapter 4: Rising Tsunami**

* * *

><p><strong>11:35 am<strong>

Kit's eyes flickered open as the chiming of the mirror music shrieked in his ears. He groaned as he stretched, standing up and opening the door to the store as he shrugged his jacket on just as Maya was coming through the door.

"Oh!"

"Sorry," he said, helping her regain her balance. "Maya, I need—"

"I know. Len says he needs help."

"On my way."

"Kit, there's one more thing." Maya called as Kit approached the door of the shop.

"I'll be careful." he called over his shoulder.

"Yes, do that but that wasn't what I was going to say! Len thinks Xaviaix is after Chris' sister!"

Kit nearly ran into the door in his surprise, eyes wide as he whirled around. "His _sister_? Hang on, he never mentioned having a sister!"

"That's not important! Len has a good reason for thinking so and either way—"

"It's my job." Kit said, pushing the door open. "No one's gonna touch her, _especially_ not Xaviax."

* * *

><p>From the window, Maya watched Kit pull away from the curb on his motorcycle and ride into the city traffic. Chris's venting had put things into harsh perspective for her.<p>

If Kit or Len lost the same thing would happen and the Earth would be lost. And she would lose her friends. So much had been thrown onto their shoulders; one world had fallen, another was in danger and that world had to be saved. She knew that...she just sometimes wished Kit didn't have to be the one to do it.

But if he hadn't become a Kamen Rider, she would have never met him. Strangely enough, it was the mirror monsters that had brought them together. If he hadn't been a Kamen Rider, he would have been just as unaware of her danger as she had been and she would have been kidnapped, saved by Len (maybe) and still left in the dark about the monsters. Or Len wouldn't have been after Kit's advent deck, he wouldn't have gotten there in time and she'd be one of Xaviax's slaves. She wouldn't be here now.

She sighed. Sometimes it was so difficult to know what to be grateful for. All she knew is that she hoped both Kit and Len would come back time after time and win the war to save their world.

* * *

><p>There were small busts set in niches in the marble walls of the corridor looking out onto the gardens and Neva peered to study one closely.<p>

"God or mortal?"

"Mortal, Achilles." James explained.

"The Greek Champion, fought at Troy. He was invulnerable except for one spot on his heel and that's what killed him." Neva nodded, glancing over her shoulder at her companion. "Did you study Greek myths?"

"It's a hobby of mine," he replied, casually. "Speaking of Achilles...I'm sorry about your brother."

Neva glanced at him, turning to face him. "What are you talking about?"

"He told me you were close." James explained.

Neva's wary expression relaxed again. "Yeah...but he hasn't called me in awhile..."

"You don't know?" James breathed.

"Know what?"

The advent chime sounded again and James growled quietly as Neva stiffened. "Did you feel that?" she asked, voice tensing with nervous fear.

James' careful mask slipped for a fraction of a second but it was quickly back in place. "No. What's wrong? Something in the air?"

Neva looked sheepish, tapping her fingers together. "No...maybe I imagined it."

"Some people have better sense than others." James reasoned, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If you don't feel comfortable, we can go somewhere else."

_~Stay away from him!~_

Neva moaned as Chris's voice rang loudly and angrily in her head, and she clamped a hand to her skull.

"What's wrong?"

_I'm hearing my brother's voice._ "I need to sit down." she mumbled, nearly collapsing on the floor. James caught her around the waist, holding her up.

_~Get away!~_

"Not here." James said. "Let's find a better place for you to collapse."

"Is that your way of being charming?" she mumbled, blinking in surprise as he swung her into his arms with ease, bridal style. "What are you doing?"

"You don't look as if you can walk right now." James explained. "I know a good place."

* * *

><p><em>Chris's sister?<em>

Kit leaned forward on his bike, revving the engine and picking up the speed. _He _**never** _mentioned a sister. Ever. _Kit resisted the urge to close his eyes. _We'll have to tell her about Chris. But...how?_

Kit felt his breath hitch in his throat. _If I had vented Axe in the first place, Chris would still be here._

**"Venting them now won't bring him back." **Maya's words came back to him and Kit sighed.

_I couldn't save Chris. But I **can** protect his sister._

* * *

><p>Xaviax nodded in satisfaction at James' ongoing act, smiling. "Perfect, perfect. It's a shame really how easy women are to fool."<p>

Danny leaned over his shoulder. "We're kidnapping a girl?"

"She's more than just a girl, Danny. She's a psychic."

"Those _exist_?" Albert said in surprise. Xaviax sighed inwardly. What had he expected? Where there was one brother, the other followed.

"I exist." the alien warlord pointed out.

"Good point..."

"She's untrained but she has a potential for great power. We can't simply snatch her like we did the other humans; we need to be more...suave."

"But what about Wing Knight and Dragon Knight?" Danny asked. "Isn't she the Marine's sister? What if he—"

"Your concern is understandable but unnecessary. He had a bad relationship with his father and left home to clear his head. He's called her once or twice but he never told her about the Kamen Riders."

"I'm confused." Albert muttered, scratching his head. Xaviax sighed.

"That's alright. James and I have this well in hand."

Xaviax waved his hand, frowning. Len was fast approaching James and from Ventarra, so was Kit.

"Head off Dragon Knight but don't vent him."

Danny smirked. "Not a problem."

* * *

><p>James held Neva close, as if he cared, her arms looped around his neck and leaning against his chest as he walked out of the gardens. <em>She's entirely too trusting.<em>

Neva moaned again, voices and energy pressing in on her mind and body. _There's something wrong..._

"Let her go, Strike."

James stopped and Neva looked up, eyes widening as Len walked into the gallery, stance stiff, eyes burning with anger as he stared at James in digust.

"Len?" Neva was confused. Why was he here? "What are you doing here?"

"That man is dangerous." Len said.

Neva just looked more confused and rolled out of James' arms, landing on the floor and straightening. "What-" James looped his arms around her body, drawing her in and holding her. Len stopped short, scowling. This was not going to end well. "I think you're the one who needs to step back," James warned. "After what you did to her brother..."

"What?" Len said and then understanding flashed across his face; the same trick Torque had pulled on Kit, the same trick Xaviax had used on Chris. _Not this_ _again!_ "He's lying to you. I—"

"Wait, you _know_ my brother too?" Neva gasped, struggling in James' hold. "Let me go, you stupid man before I snap your ribs!" James gasped, feeling his air pressurizing as it suddenly became thicker and harder to breathe. He let her go, coughing."Why do you _both_ know him?" Neva demanded.

"Because Len killed him." James managed to say between coughs.

Len's voice filled with horror. "That's not true!"

"It's isn't?" James taunted. "You were his commander and you betrayed him. You let him die. You _kill_ed him."

Neva froze. _Killed...died...betrayed..._

"Where is Chris? I want to see him." Her voice sounded hollow to her. _Killed_...

Len took a step forward and instantly could not breath, hacking. It felt like there was too much _water_ being crammed down his throat.

* * *

><p>Xaviax could have giggled. But evil warlords don't giggle. Instead he beamed. <em>She's telekinetic. Perfect.<em>

* * *

><p>"What did you do to him?" Neva snarled. Droplets of water were beginning to form in the air and the temperature was dropping. It was getting hard to breathe. The air was becoming cold and sharp.<p>

"Neva, just hear me out." Len coughed.

_~Len didn't do it!~_

_Chris? Is that…?_

_~...!~...your six... ~_

Neva clamped her hands to her head. "Stop it! Stop talking in my head! Shut up!"

_~No! WATCH YOUR SIX!~_

No. "Calm down." She whispered, grasping her head and closing her eyes. "Calm down, calm down, calm down…" The floor shifted as a tile cracked.

"Neva." Len started as he and James both pushed themselves to their feet.

Being closer, James gently settled a hand on her shoulder as if she was a bomb ready to go off. "Take your hand off me or I'll break it." She said quietly.

"Just hear me out."

"I said hands OFF!" she screamed. James suddenly went flying, hurtled off his feet and sent crashing into the wall with a cry of pain. Neva turned her attention to Len who was slowly approaching her.

Slowly he pulled Sting's advent deck out of the inner pocket of his jacket. "I'm sorry." He said taking slow steps forward. "I truly am. In a way, it is my fault. But your brother was a solider and he sacrificed himself to save me."

"You **do** know what the monsters are." she said accusingly.

"I'm sorry I had to lie. But I promise, he was the solider, the _marine_, he wanted to be. Your father would have been proud of him."

"Some son to be proud of."

Neva whirled around as James held out his deck, the advent belt appearing around his waist. Len shot forward, closing the distance between himself and Neva and darted in front of her, whipping out his own advent deck and slipping the Sting advent deck and his wallet into her pockets.

"Get out of here. Find the man in that picture." He whispered. "He'll help you."

"He'd better. You owe me answers." She said, taking the wallet and deck. James gave her one more 'hear me out?' look; she sneered and turned on her heel, walking away swiftly.

Len breathed an inward sigh of relief as the belt crackled into existence around his waist.

"So, you were able to 'save her'." James taunted. "I'll just find her again."

"She doesn't trust you, Strike. She's not going to come to Xaviax so easily."

"But she doesn't trust you either." he taunted, folding his arms across his chest. " You can't protect her forever. You'll let down your guard sometime."

"You're not bargaining her off in some twisted to the deal to the devil." Len snarled. "You're a traitor to your entire world."

"You say that. But are you sure you're not protecting just because she's Sting's baby sister?"

Len flinched_. _"What do you want with her?" Len demanded.

"_That_ is none of your business."

"It is," Len countered. "Since I'm the good guy and you're the bad guy."

"Good and evil are relative terms." he said dismissively.

_"You're trying to enslave an entire planet!"_ Len snarled. "That doesn't go under the good deeds category!"

"That girl has a gift, Wing Knight." James said. "You saw what she did; she's _telekinetic._ She could be very useful to our cause."

"I'm not the one who vented Chris."

"No..." James said slowly. "_**But **_he sacrificed himself for you, so that makes you responsible."

He didn't a lecture from this traitor and Len's scowl darkened. "Where's Kit's father, Strike?"

"That's 'need to know' information, Wing Knight. And you can't possibly save both Chris' sister _**and**_ Kit's father. You're gonna have to choose…."

"I'm not letting you vent anyone else." Len snarled, sliding his advent deck into the belt. "Let's ride."

"If you insist," James sighed as if reluctant, sliding his own deck into its slots.

The decks spun in their holders, generating a pulsing force wave of light around each Rider, crackling with energy. Leather and metal settled into place around each body, creaking as they flexed limbs. Glaring at each other through the face plates; Wing Knight and Strike both took fighting stances.

"After you," Strike joked as they both leaped through the glass.

* * *

><p><strong>I re-read the chapter before posting, didn't like it, rewrote it a bit, reevaluated, edited some more and now I like it better. And Kit still hasn't had much to do! D: Well, next chapter he will! Until next week, loyal reader. (and if anyone else is reading, reviews? Please?)<strong>


	5. Snow and Fire

_**Disclaimer:**_ _A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and_ _Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance._

_And thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for being a loyal reviewer! I've made a few small changes to the previous chapter but nothing too big._

_Let's get on with it._

_**Posted: December 08, 2011**_

_**Edited: 4-5-2012**_

__Private Thoughts, _"_Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, ~Spirit-Voice~. **"Vent Announcement."**__

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>_

_**Cry of the Ocean - Clepsydra: Chapter 5: Snow and Fire**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>11:41 am PDT*<strong>_

_Wait. _Kit paused at a traffic light, drumming his fingers in thought.

_If her family's been marines since World War II wouldn't she be jumpy? She won't know what's going on and she'll want answers._

As soon as the light turned green, he turned his bike and headed for his place.

* * *

><p>Danny leaned forward, watching Kit sitting at the traffic light. Satisfied he wasn't going anywhere, he turned to his brother. "Remember, we have to stop school boy from reaching the Marine's sister. Let's just rough him up a bit. No venting."<p>

"I don't get why Xaviax wants him anyway..." Albert muttered, glancing down the street. "Here he comes." The light flashed green but instead of heading towards them, he turned and headed down a side-street.

"Shit! Follow him. Go that way." Danny pointed to an avenue directly ahead of them and slammed his visor down.

_:No, don't:_. Xaviax's face appeared in the reflection of their visors and both brothers jumped.

"Dude, that's creepy!"

_:Forget, Kit. The girl is getting suspicious of both Strike and Wing Knight. I want you to get in there and play nice.:_

"Wait, Strike messed up?"

_:No, Wing Knight did, with his inconveniently timed arrival. Now, go! Albert, you follow Kit, make sure he doesn't reach Neva.:_

Albert didn't like this idea and frowned. "You can handle it. He's a just a school boy." Danny said, patting his brother on the shoulder.

Albert nodded with a smirk, slamming his visor down and shooting down the street as Danny turned towards the direction of the Museum and quickly located a mirror in a deserted alley, vanishing into the depths of the advent void.

* * *

><p>Albert roared down the street, breaking speed limit and curving the motorcycle around a tight corner just as he saw Kit pass by on the other street. He revved the engine, heedless of the police car that roared to life.<p>

_"You are over the speed limit!" _the officer cried. _"Stop your vehicle!_"

Albert glanced over his shoulder and threw up a rude hand gesture before resuming his course and speeding after Kit with the cop in pursuit.

Hearing the wailing of sirens, Kit glanced into his rearview mirror and rolled his eyes, spotting Albert with the police car behind him.

"Idiot. I do _not_ have time for you. Wait, where's his brother...?"

Kit shook his head. "Better get out of here before he shows up." He glanced at the police car behind Albert again and sighed. _I'm sick of getting my ass handed to me by these guys._

Kit dropped speed abruptly, resulting in Albert and the police shooting past him. He wheeled the motorcycle around in a wheelie and curved down a sidestreet, hearing Albert's howl of rage. He tried to follow but the cop car blocked him and he went crashing in it, both vehicles spinning.

Kit winced, sent a prayer than the police were alright, silently thanked them for unknowingly providing assistance and picked up speed, heading for his place.

* * *

><p>Kit ducked into his apartment, swinging the door shut behind him as he glanced around for it.<p>

"Where did I put that thing...Ah ha!" He dove for Chris's backpack, lying half-hidden under the coffee table and rummaged through it, retrieving Chris's wallet from the bag. Flipping it open, he found about five pictures. A family photo—Chris, his parents and a girl, his sister no doubt, 2 pictures of Chris and his NROTC brothers-in-arms. One was serious—a class photo-op and in the other they were relaxing on the lakeside. His sister was in the lakeside picture. And there were three more photos, all of which had just Chris and his sister.

In one photo, someone had gotten a candid shot of a younger Chris and his sister; she was happily greeting him via tackle-hug inside a building that looked to be their house.

_Wait, Maya didn't tell me her name...damnit._

In the other one, she was standing on a bench behind him, leaning on his shoulders and holding a book out of his reach. And in the last one, she was standing a low wall, her arm on Chris's shoulder, both of them smiling.

Shoving the wallet into his pocket and Chris's letter to his father, Kit snatched an extra picture off the kitchen counter and tucked it into his pocket, as he approached his mirror and breathed, trying to remember a mirror portal trick Len had taught him.

Visualizing the girl's face and a quiet place where no one would see him come from a mirror, he stretched his hand out, brushing the surface of the mirror and let it suck him into the depths of the mirror bridges.

* * *

><p>Kit emerged from the window in a gallery hall framed on one side by a set of glass windows and on the other by glass doors. There were pools of water in the center and statues of Greek gods lining the hall. His eyes darted around, searching for the girl in Chris's pictures.<p>

A movement behind the glass doors opposite the windows caught his eyes and he ran across the yards to burst into the 'Arms and Armor' room where Danny was circling a brunette girl wearing black running pants and a turquoise shirt. He quietly stopped a distance behind Danny, holding a finger to his lips in a silent gesture to the girl and wondering where all the people had gone. Wasn't this a museum? Shouldn't there be locals and tourists crawling all over the place?

The girl gave no sign that she had seen him and rolled her shoulder, all her attention on Danny.

Pushing that thought aside, Kit refocused on the situation at hand as Danny lunged for Miss Ramirez. She grabbed his collar as he came in and rammed a hard and unforgiving knee into his abdomen. Breath whooshed out of his lungs and she let him drop, skipping around him. Kit darted back into the Gods Hall, the girl following him with an angry and suspicious look on her face.

"Bad day?"

Neva yanked something out of her pocket; Len's wallet - _How did she get that? -_ and flipped through it, yanking out a picture and glancing at it. He noticed it was the picture of Len and Adam-the Ventarran Dragon Knight. _Oh_

"I want answers!"

Kit held up his hands in a sign of piece. "We have to take care of your...admirer first." he said.

"And what is this?" She held up Sting's advent deck and Kit felt a twisting of guilt in his gut.

"Keep that safe." Kit said gently, curling her fingers around it. "It was your brother's."

Neva's angry expression wavered and her lip quivered. "How-?"

"Len called, told me to come help. Can I...uh...well not protect...assist you now?" Kit pulled out several pictures. "This is you right?"

Neva took the pictures as if they would crumble to ashes. "These were in his wallet..."

"And here's another one." Kit added holding up the extra picture he had brought. It was of himself, Chris, Maya and Len in the bookstore not long after Chris joined the team. Maya had thought it a good idea to climb on Kit's back, balancing herself on Len and Chris's shoulders who were standing on either side of the two friends. They had burst out laughing in the middle of the picture and even Len had a genuine smile on his face.

Tears began to prick at Neva's eyes as her hand tightened around her brother's advent deck.

A platoon of Red Newts exploded from the waters of the pool and from the glass doors and windows. "Shoot!" Neva shoved the items into her bag, taking up a fighting position back to back with her impromptu partner.

"What's your name?" Neva demanded.

"Kit Taylor. And yours?"

"Neva Ramirez." She ducked a monster as they swarmed towards herself and Kit. She seized its arm, ramming a knee into its stomach and kicking it backwards, sending stumbling into one of its companions. They crashed to the ground together and burst into shadows.

"Wait a second! You can _see_ them!" Kit noticed in shock, ducking a swing of its shuriken and shooting a succession of rapid punches into its torso. Kit and Neva whirled, switching opponents; Neva stabbed the monster in the face with her combat knife and it burst into shadows while Kit drop-kicked his opponent and sent it scrambling away.

"How can I _not_?"

Kit decided to mull over this later, wondering if being a Rider's sister had anything to do with it. They had more important concerns.

"Don't worry; we won't hurt you," The crowd of Red Newts parted, letting an armored knight into their midst. His armor concealed his entire body and silver with hints of blue over a black bodysuit and looked to be modeled after a tiger.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded, hand settling on her belt.

"Just come with us," the armored man directed. Kit defensively slid in front of her.

_~Kamen Rider Axe, Danny Cho. The man you were just fighting.~_ Chris's voice explained helpfully, coming through more clearly now. It was as if he was standing right next to her. ~_He has a brother, Albert, Kamen Rider Spear. They work for the villian.~_

_Chris?_

"Who are you people?" Neva asked, aloud noticing that Kit and Axe/Danny were busy glaring at each other - at least she _thought_ Axe was glaring. "What are you and what do you want?" If they replied in the same answers 'spirit Chris' had said she'd know she wasn't going crazy.

"Kamen Rider Axe." Kit growled, pulling out his own advent deck as the newt monsters began to back away. "Kamen Rider!" Streams of red electricity connected from the deck to his waist, causing a belt to appear. "Sorry your life just got 'un-normal'." He said apologetically. "Stand back." Neva glared. "Use your knife." Neva backed away reluctantly, keeping a grip on her knife as Kit slid the deck into his holder.

Two intersecting lines of red energy appeared, forming an orb of energy that shimmered around him, causing red leather armor and silver and black metal plating to appear around his body. Neva's eyes widened in surprise.

_**"Strike Vent."**_Axe slotted a card into his Axe Visor*, gaining a paw of large tiger-like claws.

**"**_**Strike Vent."**_Kit slotted his own card into his Dragon-Head Drag Visor and second dragon's head fixed to his arm, dropping seemingly from the sky.

~_Kamen Rider Dragon Knight_~ Spirit-Chris, sounding proud. ~_My brother-in-arms.~_

"Okay, Miss Ramirez." said Axe. "If you don't cooperate and come quietly, I'll vent your 'knight in dragon armor' here and we can do this hard way. Or-"

"That threat was sad." Neva quipped as a Newt Monster lunged for her from behind. She reversed the knife and plunged it into the offending mirror monster's torso, making it burst into shadows. "It was noisy."

_~It was.~_ Spirit-Chris agreed as the monsters swarmed forward.

"Stay back!" Dragon Knight warned.

The advent deck in Neva's bag flickered with magenta light as a wave of invisible energy erupted outwards, sending the monsters flying.

A tunnel of fire suddenly erupted, blasting Axe through the air and crashing onto his side with a cry of pain.

"Get down!" Dragon Knight leapt over Neva's head and her eyes widened at the dragon that followed behind him, unleashing a burst of flame at the monsters and sending them hurtling backwards into the water with a weird slurping sound.

Dragon Knight stood before Neva in a protective stance so he faced the Newt Monsters and Axe, who had scrambled to his feet.

"Stay behind me but don't be afraid to help me out." Dragon Knight cautioned.

"I am so confused."

"Don't worry; I'll explain everything soon, I promise." He said slotting a card and summoning a sword. "Important note: Not all Kamen Riders are good guys. Those monsters may come back but hopefully, they got vented. And keep an eye out for a guy in brown and gold armor, okay?"

**"**_**Strike Vent.**_" Axe re-produced the pair of claw-liked weapons, which had vanished when he was hit.

"Step aside, school boy. Or maybe you'd like to eat floor again?"

"It's one on one now." Dragon Knight snapped, leveling his sword as Neva spun her KA-BAR knife in her hand. The Newt Monsters circled around Neva and the two Kamen Riders.

A Newt Monster leapt over Dragon Knight, reaching for Neva. She whirled as Dragon Knight did, raising his sword. The monster came down on Neva with a shriek of pain and it burst into shadows, revealing Neva with her combat knife raised.

"And Dad said I could never use this."

Axe lunged for Dragon Knight; only Neva's scream of 'Behind you!' saved him-he whirled, blocking Axe's downstrike with his sword blade. Vibrations jolted through both men's arms and they stumbled back.

Neva dodged a swing of a Newt's giant shuriken and chopped down at it, slicing it in half and whirling in a kick that sent the monster into the air and bursting into black shadows.

Another Red Newt grabbed her in a bear hug; Neva hooked her foot around its own, stopping its from picking her up and slammed a foot into other foot and lashed her head back, forcing it to release her.

"_**Attack Vent**_**.**" Neva whirled as a mechanical tiger burst from the advent portals and sprang towards her.

"Neva, run!"

The Sting advent deck crackled again and Neva, her brain sluggish, threw up her hands. A roar filled her bones as magenta light emitted, the shape of a large aquatic _beast_ suddenly emerging and slamming straight into Axe's advent beast. The tiger advent beast went flying backwards and tumbled onto her side, scrambling to her paws.

Neva swayed on her feet, feeling dizzy.

_~Don't collapse!~_

"Attack vent."

A red mechanical Chinese dragon appeared as Destwilder growled menacingly, her long mechanical tail swishing on the tiled floor. She looked like a white tiger, the black stripes raised strips of metal. Her ears twitched.

_~Dragredder_.~ Chris explained. ~_I think the tiger is Destwilder.~_

The great dragon reared, back with a roar as he dove his great jaws down to catch Destwilder in a death grip bite but the tiger leaped right on Dragredder's head, diving off and swiping its deadly claws at Dragon Knight. The claws scrapped against metal, grating in an unpleasant sound. "Ugh!" He hit the ground groaning from the weight of the tiger as it retreated. Dragredder hovered before his master, growling.

"Stand back." Dragon Knight ordered. Destwilder and Dragredder lunged again; Dragredder flicked his tail, catching Axe in the side and sending him hurtling into the depths of the advent portals through the watery pools.

The newt monsters instantly became confused and Destwilder skidded by Neva and Dragon Knight, casting a glance over her shoulder before vanishing.

Dragon Knight drew a card from the belt at his waist and slotted in the gauntlet on his arm. **"Final Vent," **a voice called startling Neva .

She instinctively stepped back as Dragon Knight thrust his hands out, steadying himself as Dragredder twisted in the air as his master leapt in the air, twisting before launching at the crowd of monsters as the dragon unleashed a burst of flames from its maw. The heat was like an oven as fire rippled over the marble consuming the monsters, dragon and its master in a fiery explosion.

Neva flinched, shielding her eyes. Was he gone? "Hello?"

There was a deep sigh as Dragon Knight emerged from the flames and the fire faded, leaving the area completely intact. "Huh?" She raised her eyes, scanning the area. There was no sign of Spear or the monsters, or the Dragon, just the armored knight walking towards her.

"Well! That was exciting."

Neva sighed and suddenly felt her legs belt and crumple beneath her. "Whoa!" Dragon Knight caught her by the arms. "Don't collapse!"

"I can't help it; my legs are jelly!" She yelped as Dragon Knight shifted his position and looped her arm around his neck, supporting her. "I still feel weak..."

"Maybe it was that weird psychic stuff you were doing." he quipped. "You threw those monsters without even touching them."

Neva took in a shaky breath. "I was trying to forget that part. Are you really Chris's friend?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't save him."

_~I attacked him at first-thinking he was an alien.~_ Chris sounded bitter. ~_He was-He _is _a good friend to have.~_

"I forgive you." She wasn't sure if she was talking to spirit-Chris or Kit. Probably both.

Dragon Knight nodded. "I'm gonna take you to a safe place."

She cast him a skeptical look. "Really?"

"Really."

"Without evil Riders showing up?"

Kit paused—the shop wasn't safe—Axe and Spear had walked in, no problem. And yet for some reason none of Xaviax's Riders or monsters had ever barged into _his_ house. Not even through the mirrors.

"Yes."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay, Kit finally got his moment! :D And Neva and Kit finally meet. I had to rewrite this chapter because I had rewritten the previous chapter and it altered things... :P<strong>

**Please review. :)**

***Visor - Vent-Summoner**

**Axe's Vent Visor is the Dest or Axe Visor and Dragon Knight's is the Drag Visor.**


	6. A Sister's Grief

_Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang and Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance._

_Posted: December 15, 2011_

_Edited: May 12, 2012_

_Thank you to Kamen Rider Lynx as usual for being a loyal reviewer. Sorry about this being posted so late in the day-I had to finish it first but the hecticness of final papers combined with travel and my novel writing distracted me from this particular fic. But at least I managed to post on a Thursday. :)_

**Had to make some edits after posting.**

"Regular Speech"_ Private Thoughts/Emphasis/AN - _"_Radio/Cellphone" - :Speaking through the Mirror/Advent Beasts: - ~Spirit-Chris~ - _**"Vent Announcement/Remembered Words."**

_Open: _[20] Letter From The Front Line [2/3] on youtube. load to 1:26 and paused. Please read.

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Fanfiction<strong>

**Cry of the Ocean: Clepsydra: Chapter 6: A Sister's Grief**

**Ventarra - 11: 55 am**

Wing Knight and Strike emerged in a deserted Ventarran factory.

"Let's get this started shall we? " Strike's voice cut through the stillness as his staff's sharp blow to Wing Knight's Vent Summon Rapier sent it spinning away. Wing ducked Strike's next swing.

He twisted his arm around the cobra staff, sending it out of Strike's hands as he flicked his arm and leapt into the air, striking with the kangaroo kick he'd used on Incisor. Not waiting to see the result, he rolled on the ground to retrieve his sword.

**"Attack Vent,"** He heard Strike's Vent Summoner go off.

Wing Knight slid the card in the cross guard of his rapier, hoping he wouldn't regret this. **"Final Vent!"**

"Let's go, Blackwing," And he sprang for the nearest rack, clearing it with one hand in a matter of seconds.

He heard the hiss of Strike's cobra, Venosnaker as he reached the top and leapt over a spray of acid as the chiming of the advent portal announced Blackwing's appearance. He swooped down Venosnaker as he screeched, beating at his head with powerful sweeps of its wings.

The cobra hissed, moving to strike back but the bat dodged, swerving as he went to join his master, attaching a transforming into a long black cape. Instantly, Wing Knight went airborne as the cape whipped around his body. He plummeted downwards, darkness, cloaking his vision, feeling the familiar adrenaline flooding through his veins. This time however, his blood ran cold as if he was about to die.

**"Final Vent,"** Strike narrowed his own eyes under the visor as he leapt into the air, feeling the burn in his back as Venosnaker's acid propelled him through the air at the devastating drill that was Wing Knight.

As the Rider with the blind Bat Blackwing as his mantel, he could sense things naturally that other Riders like Kit had to train themselves to do. He sensed the dark menacing aura of Venosnaker's Rider rapidly speeding towards him. Without fully comprehending it, he whipped his body to the side, releasing himself from the Wing Drill even as he slid in a new card. "Ride Vent,"

Blackwing detached, swooping below his falling Rider, seeming to expand slightly in size. Wing Knight landed on the loyal bat with a slight grunt. "Good job. Now find the others," Wing Knight rested on one knee, ignoring the crashes behind him his default rapier held in a reverse grip.

He smiled grimly as Blackwing swooped into the open sky, leaving the factory behind.

* * *

><p>Strike's eyes widened under his faceplate in surprise as Wing Knight's drill whipped off to the side The Terran Rider, skidded onto the metal racks but his momentum was too great and there was too little space on the horizontally angled rack. He went crashing into the next, sending it crashing to its doom. Being a Rider however, his landing was not ungraceful; he tucked into a ball, landing on his curved back went into a crouch and rose smoothly to his full height.<p>

He turned, surveying the scene completely deserted. Venosnaker did not look pleased.

Strike sighed. "Another setback..."

* * *

><p><em>Kit's Place - 12: 15 pm<em>

Kit gripped Neva's arm tightly as they stepped from out of the silvery void that was the advent portals and his apartment materialized. Neva gasped, her knees buckling even more; the Terran Rider hooked his arm around her knees and helped her sit.

"Let's at least get you to the couch." he said. Neva blinked up at him.

"Your armor is gone."

"For some reason, going through the advent gates makes it come off. The couch?"

"Oh yeah, this floor is cold." Kit helped her to the couch where she sighed in relief and leaned back as Kit went to the fridge.

"You want a drink or something, a sandwich?"

"A drink is fine. Tea I guess."

Kit clattered around the kitchen, muttering to himself as Neva looked around the apartment. It was small but cozy; a central room with a kitchen and a neighboring lounge area. There was set of doors to her left, across from the kitchen and something under the table caught her eye. She dragged it out and stiffened.

_Chris' pack_.

Neva pulled it to the couch, carefully lifting the flap. It was crammed with suff but all of it was neatly rolled; blanket, clothes, wallet, some dried food packets, his journal which she carefully set aside, feeling as if she was invading his privacy.

"How did you get this?"

Kit turned, his face saddening when he saw Neva holding her brother's backpack on her lap.

"He left it here before he was..." Kit swallowed hard. "Before he was vented."

Neva stared at him in confusion. "Vented?"

"Gimme a few minutes," Kit requested going back to making the tea.

It was a few minutes before the tea was ready and then Kit carried a tray over with mugs, spoons, sugar and honey.

"Kamen Riders don't...die exactly." Kit explained, setting the tray down as he sat next to Neva on the couch. "When we lose badly, we get sucked into the advent void, the place between our world and the world behind the mirrors and we can't get out." He swallowed hard, unable to look at Neva anymore. "That's what happened to Chris."

Neva stared in shock and confusion. "What?"

Kit felt pain and guilt well in his heart; he knew exactly how he felt. He'd been shocked when Incisor was vented, shocked when he learned his dad was a vegetable and may never be the same again. But at least he had a chance at getting him back-there was barely a hope for Neva's brother at all. "I'm sorry! I really am but he-"

Neva pressed her head into her knees, her breath barely coming in hitches. "So he's not dead, just lost forever?"

Kit cautiously slid a hand over her shoulders, feeling her body shake and he looped an arm her shoulders, pressing close in a weird hug. "We're gonna to try to bring him back."

_~It's okay, Nev. It wasn't that bad.~_

Kit rubbed her back soothingly, humming a low song she didn't recognize . "I'm so confused. _What happened?"_

Kit hesistated then pulled a letter out of his jacket pocket before taking off the jacket. "I think you should read this first."

Neva sat up and took the letter slowly. The envelope read;

_Daniel Ramirez_  
><em>510 Cheyenne Rd.<em>  
><em>Brookstone, CA, 91500<em>

It was written in Chris's familiar neat scrawl, so unlike her own neat scrawl that would quickly degrade into illegable chicken-scratch and unlike their mother's neat cursive or their father's neatly printed lettering. She glanced at Kit then opened the letter. It was written on several pieces of journal paper-she recognized it. He carried that journal with him everywhere writing his most private thoughts. She wondered if Kit had read that too but chose not to bring it up at the moment.

**(A/N: Play the Youtube video I told you to load.)**

_Dear Dad,_

_I know you're probably pretty angry at me right now. Dad, I'm sorry I ran out on you like that. Yeah, I guess I just couldn't face my failure. I wish I could say everything is fine now but it isn't. See, my asthma is only getting worse. After I was discharged, I didn't know what to do. But then I got a chance to work for what I thought was a branch of Homeland Security and I saw it as a new way to serve my country._

_And at first I did _fine_. Dad, you would have been so proud. I brought honor to the uniform I wore. But then the big 'A' started to cut into my game. I kept remembering what you always said. 'Just get to the fight and let your training guide you.'_

_But training can't heal my body. And I told myself I could control the coughing if I just kept a clear head. After all, Pop, you said that the hero is the guy who keeps his cool while everyone else loses theirs._

_I was determined not to give up. You taught me that, remember?_

_You also taught me that if 'Your determination runs low, fill it back up with loyalty'. Remember that one? And Dad, you know the Marine motto. Semper Fidelis-Always Faithful._

_I'll never betray my friends. Never. But you can't bounce back from what I've got and no amount of loyalty or dedication will change that. See, Pop, I thought about courage. You always said that courage was facing your fears and the proof was in the risk you take and the sacrifices you make._

_So what I can say?_

_My heart and soul are in it but my lungs aren't. I'm helpless and there's nothing I can do. I spent my whole life trying to be the hero that you taught me was the highest achievement possible._

_I'm sorry, Dad. I'll never be that hero._

_Your Son,  
>Chris<em>

**(Stop Video)**

Tears threatened afresh. "Damnit. " She whispered. "Fubar*, kuso*, fubar, damnit, damnit, damnit!" A burst of energy shattered the glass of the coffee table into a shower of glass as she shot to her feet, making Kit jump but he snatched the tea tray out of harm's way before it could fall.

She didn't seem to notice. "Damn these Marines and their sense of honor, of pride! He's is _not_ worthless! He was_ my_ hero, my _brother_, damnit!"

"Please don't blow anything up." Kit said meekly, bringing her back to her senses. She stared at the glass on the ground.

"I did that?"

Kit set the tray down on the floor and took her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "If it makes you feel better _I_ think he was a hero. Despite everything."

Neva nodded, slowly sitting down and ignoring the glass. "Thank you. You haven't told me...how did he get mixed up in this? No, how did _you_?"

Kit fidgeted. "It's really bizarre."

"I was attacked by_ mirror monsters!"_

"Point taken. But sometimes, I still have trouble believing...this actually happening, you know?"

Neva looked down at Chris's advent deck, tracing the golden stingray emblazoned on the magenta surface. "I know. I have a question though. When I hold this deck -before I held this deck- I heard his voice. _Chris_'s voice. Sometimes, I swear I can see him standing there as if he _is_ there but...he's not."

Kit sucked in a breath of surprise and Neva laughed bitterly. "I'm insane aren't I?"

"No! That's exactly what happened to me!" he paused. "Sort of."

"What?"

"Before I found my deck, I heard my _father_ talking to me. Saw him too. It was...like a vision or something."

Neva breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the advent deck that had belonged to her brother. "What happened? What is this thing, how can you change into an armored knight and where-"

Kit handed her a mug of tea to stem her flood of questions. "This is going to be a long story so lemme start from the beginning. I was dragged into this because when I came home from foster care, the day I turned eighteen, I found the dragon deck on my kitchen counter..."

* * *

><p><strong>The Bookshop - 1:15 pm<strong>

Maya was anxious. She organized books, she muttered to herself while doing that jumped at small noises and had bashed a customer in the head when he tried to ask for help. They apologized profousely but he still left the shop leaving Maya feeling guilty for ten minutes before her restless worry consumed her again; Trent ordered her to a back room; Aunt Grace's continued vacation left them both in charge of the store.

Maya sat at her computer and tried to distract herself. She ended up looking at pictures of Chris, Kit and Len out of armor and pictures Chris as Kamen Rider Sting.

She went for a walk, got a coffee, came back. Dumped the coffee, paced some more and went back to the shelves.

Trent groaned, fisting his hands into his hair. "Would you _please_, stop pacing! You're driving me _insane!"_

"I can't help it!" Maya cried, throwing her hands up. "I'm worried about them!"

Trent sighed and buried his face in his hands. If those two Riders didn't come back, he'd go out and find them himself.

The shop door opened and both employee's glanced at the door; it was Len, back from slaying mirror monsters.

"Len!" they both cried, startling the stoic Rider.

"She's driving me insane!" Trent declared. "She's been wreaking havoc with her worried pacing! She attacked a customer!"

"It was an accident, it was reflex, he _startled_ me!"

"Not everyone's out to kill you!"

"Where's Kit?" Len interrupted their heated argument. He wished he hadn't asked; Maya's face became a mask of consumed worry.

"No, don't panic!" Trent cried, throwing up his hands. "Call him, please!"

"But what if I distract him?"

Len paused, closing his eyes as he felt through his mind for that familiar aura of advent energy that wrapped around each Rider. He'd assume Kit would immediately go to the shop to ensure Maya he was safe but maybe...

Len opened his eyes. "He's at his house. You can stop panicking, Maya." She breathed a sigh of relief and picked up a book.

"Just go." Trent moaned.

"And we found Chris's sister in time." Len said. "I think Kit helped her."

"What are we waiting for then?" Maya scrambled for her things eagerly. "Let's go, I can't wait to meet her!"

"Let's take a shortcut." Len suggested, nodding to the windows.

The door jingled open just then startling them. It was Lacey; she had a streak of blue in her hair, wearing a summer dress with leggings and sandals. "Oh hi Maya!"

"Hi, Lacey." Maya said. "Um..."

"Don't worry; I'll totally get out of your hair if you let me use your computer for a bit. I need to check my email."

"Oh, yeah go ahead. It's unlocked."

"Really, Maya?" Trent scolded.

"It would have locked on its own!"

"Thanks." Lacey went into the backroom, sitting at the computer and spotting a photo of Kamen Rider Sting in full-armor next to the computer. _Another Rider..._

Lacey shook her head and turned her attention to the task at hand.

* * *

><p>To say that Xaviax was angry was the understatement of the century. Albert was being held by police for traffic transgressions, Danny had failed to capture Neva and Neva and Kit were beyond his grasp in a safe haven he could not touch!<p>

James Trademore stood at attention, slightly bored looking, even when the alien warlord whirled towards him.

"So, what do you suggest? They have the girl; she is beyond our grasp now that she knows the truth."

Normally, James would suggest that they try to ply evidence against Len and Kit to turn Neva to their side But he had seen the failure of Drew Lansing due to the interference of Camo and Neva's potential for power. She was young, headstrong with dormant telekinetic powers that were just beginning to awaken, her brother was as good as in the grave and she had a strong sense of marine values. _Semper Fidelis_. Dragon Knight had aided her; if he continued to gain her favor, her loyalty would be fixed and unmoving, especially since he had fought at her brother's side. The good thing was that Len was the unstable factor-the man she was suspicious of.

"We vent her." James said simply. "From the footage you saw and what Danny told me, she is _strong_, capable of amazing things."

"And venting Neva has so many consequences...the loss of a powerful potential ally, the loss of Chris's sister...the blow would be crushing."

He regarded the limp form of Kit's father in his wheelchair with a smile. "And even more crushing...if he was forced to choose between the sister of his fallen comrade or his own father."

* * *

><p>Len was deeply concerned when he found that he and Maya could not reach Kit's apartment through the mirrors as they had been able to previously. They went by motorcycle instead; Maya's arm tightening around his waist and her head pressed into his back conveyed her worried for the other Rider.<p>

Kit's advent aura had not faded nor did it convey any sense of distress but it had been growing fainter with time, suggesting that he'd have to concentrate more to find him because Kit's control was growing tighter.

Len sighed and revved the motorcycle to go faster.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so Wing Knight vs. Strike wasn't a long battle...But we have more NevaKit interaction. :)**

**Had to make some edits after posting.**

_*Fubar: Fucked up beyond all recognition (military slang)_

_*Kuso-japanese for damn or damnit._


	7. Unsettled

_**Disclaimer:**__ A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang, Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance._

_Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for being a loyal reviewer. :) (And yay, I did manage to post before Christmas! :D )_

_Yeah this story seems to protest including many of the later chapters of 'Wing Knight's Tale' but I think some elements of the story shall begin to slip through. Also, I've run some maintenance on my last KRDK fic formatting wise (b/c I couldn't even stand to look at it,) It's now called 'Secrets of the Advent' and I took out all the unneeded 'Last Time' and 'Next Time' scenes as well as convoluted Author's Notes._

_Now, onto more important things-Clepsydra. Enjoy and Happy Holidays to Lynx and any other non-reviewers who happen to be reading, if any at all._

"Regular Speech"_ Private Thoughts/Emphasis/AN - "Radio/Cellphone" - :Speaking through the Mirror/Advent Beasts: - ~Spirit-Chris~ - __**"Vent Announcement/Remembered Words."**_

_Posted: December 22, 2011_

_Edited: June 11, 2012, March 28, 2013_

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Water Clock - Chapter 7: Unsettled**

* * *

><p><em>Kit's Apartment: 1:42 pm<em>

"Xaviax _tricked_ him?!"

Kit grabbed her hands, stilling the shaking mug. "He tricks _all_ the Riders. He played on Drew's greed, Camo's love for fighting, he blackmailed Brad and he gave Chris a _purpose, _another chance to serve his country. How could he _not_ take it?"

The mug stopped shaking much to Kit's relief; he didn't want anything else shattering or exploding. They'd moved away from the field of glass that had once been the coffee table, taking up seats at the kitchen counter.

"And you know how Chris is - he wouldn't have done it, if he'd known the truth. He turned against the General when he knew he had been tricked."

Neva took a deep breath, nodding. "You're right." she relaxed. "That makes me feel a little better."

"Good." Kit leaned against the counter, propping up his cheek in one hand, his elbow on the table and looked at Neva. "He _saved_ people, even though he was working for Xaviax. Xaviax's main goal was to get to Wing Knight and take _him_ out. But once we convinced him the truth he was on our side 100%."

Neva breathed a sigh of relief. "Then he redeemed himself."

"He did."

"But you found the dragon deck on your counter." Neva added, sounding confused. "It sounds like Xaviax stole all of the decks when he vented the Original Riders. So...what happened to Adam?"

Kit opened his mouth, closed it and frowned. "I hadn't thought about that... I'm still trying to figure that part out myself."

Kit had told her everything; from the time that he had found the advent deck, Len's time as a mysterious 'mugger/vigilante' when he tried to take the advent deck, Maya's rescue, their battles with various Riders but he skirted over the subject of Chris's venting.

Neva nodded, looking down at the deck and it shimmered with magenta light. "How did he die? I mean-how was he vented?"

Kit looked nervous and set his mug down carefully. "The short version? He took a hit for Len."

Neva's jaw stiffened, as it always did at the mention of Len. Her opinion of him seemed to have plummeted when she discovered that not only had he known her brother, he had been tied to his strange disappearance. It didn't help that her respect for him continued to fall upon being told that he had attempted to 'mug' Kit for the advent deck and was generally unfriendly (in the beginning). Despite, Kit's reassurances, it looked like Len was going to have to redeem himself in the eyes of Chris' sister.

"At least he went out like he wanted to." Neva said after a moment. "On the battlefield. At least it was a good battlefield, not one ruined by the machinations of politics and petty plots and grudges."

"If you don't mind me asking – how come your father didn't make _you_ become a marine?"

"Every Ramirez child since World War II has been sent to military school. The Ramirez family is one of the first long-standing military families to send their girls as well, when we were allowed into the ranks properly. We were raised on an army base and then we lived on a ship for awhile. When our active marines were off-duty, we were on a ship. We _breathe_ the sea, the ocean, the marines. But Chris is the oldest of the two of us and I'm the youngest child among him and our..." She had to count on her fingers. "five cousins. He would be 2nd youngest."

"Anyway, the eldest of each family is expected to keep up the tradition - he doesn't really _have_ an option. Not that he objected. He _loved_ it; we all do. But his asthma has always been hard on him. But me - I had a choice because I was the youngest. I didn't really go to a military school - I went to a special camp founded by a former solider. It's not attached to the military or anything but they taught us how to fight, military discipline and values, things like that. I could have gone to NROTC if I had gone to college but... I found something else to do." she laughed lightly.

"Chris went to NROTC instead. And then he was _medically_ discharged. Dad saw it as nothing but the highest of shame, letting your body command what you could and could not do. It was inconceivable. We've _always _been marines. Even when we—the women— couldn't fight, we were working behind the scenes with the men, helping them out, patching their wounds, doing the paperwork. But the eldest son – _always _became a marine. _Always_."

Kit was confused now. "And you became an acrobat?"

"Dad still gets after all of us to keep up our training. I'm even licensed to carry a weapon. Even if some weren't marines, Ramirezes have been Coast Guard, Reserves, NAVY seals. Mom is from a World War II military family as well." Her hands kept sliding over the contours of the advent deck. "It's our honor and our duty to protect the world. No matter what the politicians might have plans for, _our_ duty is clear as the purest water. Defend the people, remain steadfast in your loyalty, face your fear and make it your sword."

A loud 'bang' on the door made them both jump; Neva's hand went to her knife and Kit gestured for her to be still.

"Kit, open up!" Len demanded. "Are you in there?"

Kit breathed a sigh of relief and went to let them in. Maya was standing anxiously behind Len and smiled in relief when she saw him and threw her arms around his neck in a hug.

"We couldn't get through the mirror; we thought something had happened!"

"Maya, I'm fine! You're suffocating me!"

"Oh, sorry." she gasped, stepping back and Kit made a show of coughing and rubbing his neck. Maya rolled her eyes.

"You found Neva." Len noted. She glared at him accusingly and turned away. Kit waved him away.

"I was telling her about Chris and I got into this war." he said. "Neva, this is the Maya I was telling you about." Kit added, earning him an amused look from his friend. "You already know Len."

"Unfortunately." Neva muttered under breath and Len's gaze darkened.

"He's not all that bad." Maya assured the other girl, sitting at the counter. She glanced over at the couches. "Um...Why is there glass on the floor?"

Kit shrugged, acting as if it was an everyday occurrence. "She telekinetically annihilated my table."

"It was an accident!"

"You're telekinetic?" Maya gasped in wonder.

Neva rolled her eyes. "Only as of a few hours ago. I blame him for this mess." she nodded at Len. He stared at her a moment before his face contorted in rage.

"Excuse me?"

"You good as killed my brother." she said blandly and everyone flinched.

"_What?_" He had already blamed himself for this mess; he didn't need the sister accusing him of not doing his job correctly. He'd thought she would _understand; _she came from a Marine family. "He was a solider, that's what happens in war. He knew was at stake; he went against orders!"

"Len, stop it!" Maya shouted. "You're suppose to be protect her, not fight with her!"

"Who said I needed to be protected?! I need _aid_ not protection, there's a _difference!"_

"Strike twisted your mind; you can't believe anything he says! He's the _bad guy!_"

"I'm perfectly aware of that!" Neva snapped, whirling on Len. "You withheld valuable information I could have _used_!"

"You seem perfectly capable of defending yourself so I don't—"

"You think I could have face an otherworldly armored knight using tech I've never seen with my so-called telekinesis at this sad level? Those monsters, yes that _Kamen Rider? NO!"_ Her hands slammed against the counter and shook slightly, vibrating. Kit winced, hoping her telekinesis wasn't acting up again. _"_You as good as threw me to the dogs!"

"Break it up!" Kit darted between the arguing Rider and Psychic, serving as a barrier. "We're on the same side here. Please, Nev, it's not Len's fault. It's mine."

"What are you talking about?" Neva demanded.

Maya protested. "It's not _anyone's_ fault!"

"If I had vented Axe in the first place, I would have time to save Len _and_ Chris."

"You don't know that." Len said.

_~I worked for Xaviax once. The villain, you know? He tricked me. It was Len's job to vent me; I was a threat to the planet working for Xaviax. But he didn't. He gave me a chance, Neva.~_

_Stop talking in my head..._

Neva stilled and swayed on her feet dangerously; Kit darted forward to help her keep her balance. "Maybe I should cleanup all this glass." He reflected, glancing down at the glass carpet that littered his floor. "You sit."

Maya helped Neva to the couch that didn't have glass littered in front of it and Kit dragged Len away from the girls to the kitchen as a tense silence settled over the apartment.

* * *

><p>"Don't yell at her," Kit scolded Len quietly, grabbing a dustpan and a broom. "She just found out her brother's...gone. Cut her some slack."<p>

"I don't appreciate ingratitude."

"You are _really_ bad at handling civilians." Kit scolded.

"I can't spend my time coddling every single one of them!" Len snarled, his frustration bubbling over. "The more people know, the more likely your government is likely to interfere and get in my way!"

"_Your_ way? This is my world, you mean _our_ way."

Len glowered at him. "If you recall, I never wanted you involved."

"If you'd _explained_ it better, I wouldn't have had to leap without looking!"

"Stop shouting!" Maya's voice cut through their argument sharply, her voice ringing with the power of an army sergeant. "You're on the same side so fight Xaviax and his Riders not _each other_!"

The door slammed loudly and the glass shattered, raining to the floor. Everyone jumped.

"Hey, what-?" Kit glanced around wildly and noticed that Neva was not sitting on the couch. She's snuck around Maya and ran out the door while they were distracted.

"Neva!" Kit shoved the broom and dustpan into Len's hands and ran after her. "Neva, wait!"

Maya made to follow but Len stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

* * *

><p>"Neva, stop!" Kit had to grab the stair railings to turn properly; Neva just jumped to the next stair, using acrobatics Kit could only hope to use while in Rider mode. "Neva, calm down!"<p>

"Leave me alone! I need to think!"

"Neva, wait, please! Neva!" Kit took a breath and tossed himself over the railing, leaping to the next flight of stairs over the bar.

"Kit, no!"

The vibrations jolted through his body as he landed on the next flight of stairs; his foot slipped and he tilted backwards dangerously. Suddenly, Neva's smaller hand clamped around his wrist and yanked him back; they both fell with grunts of pain onto the hard metal steps but Neva sighed in relief.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." Kit shifted so he was sitting next to her instead.

"Stupid. What were you thinking?" Neva chided, sliding his pants leg up so she could check for bruises.

"Trying to calm you down. Ow..." He winced as her fingers brushing a sensitive spot.

"Trying to calm me down he says." Neva mutters. "By nearly breaking his skull."

"Sorry. Jumping's easier in the armor." Kit complained. "I can high jump too, roll, flip - it's like flying."

"I would think so. Did you break something? Anything really bruised?"

"No, I'm fine, I think. Just a little sore."

Neva clicked her tongue, half disapproving half-amused. "Do you nearly injure yourself for every girl you chase?" she teased.

Kit laughed. "When I first met Maya, I was trying to save her from mirror monsters." he reminded her.

Neva chuckled. "You really are a Knight. And in dragon armor no less."

"What is that suppose to mean?" Kit demanded, pretending to sound outraged.

"Knights and dragons normally don't mix," she reminded him with a smile. Kit waited for further explanation but she didn't seem inclined to share thoughts; her smile widened and she shook her head.

Her smiled faded as she let out a sigh, hands pressed to the stairs.

"Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"What's _wrong_?" She stared at the sky and laughed bitterly. "This day started out normal but I was attacked by mirror monsters, nearly _seduced_ by a creepy snake knight and I found out my brother is missing, isn't _dead_ but the chances of him coming back are one in a million. Oh, let's not forget that some alien warlord is after me because of said lost brother and a _psychic_ power I didn't even know I had!" She took a breath. "Why didn't you call the _army_?"

"Look, I don't know. Len's the leader here; I'm just the solider. And do you think anyone would _believe_ us? On Ventarra, everyone could see the monsters." Okay, he didn't know that but he would assume they could. "Here, only _we_ can – you probably see them because you're a psychic and Maya sees them because she was pulled into Ventarra. They wouldn't believe us."

"What about the rest of the world?"

Kit pulled her hand and made her sit down again; she leaned against his shoulder, letting him loop an arm around her shoulders, comfortingly. "I don't know." the Terran Kamen Rider admitted. "But me and Len are just two people, you know?"

"I know. But Len...he confuses me."

"He's not a bad guy." Kit said. "He's the last of his kind; makes him jumpy."

Neva sat up. "You didn't tell me that!"

"All of Ventarra's people were kidnapped with teleporters that Xaviax built —that's where's Len's from. _Ventarra_."

"Oh my god." Neva breathed, crumpling in guilt. "I had no _right_ to scream at him at all. I was being illogical and stupid-"

"Relax. Chris had some trouble wrapping his head around this too. For different reasons but still."

Neva frowned. "It's just...Len's got this strange..._power_ around him. It's the same from the advent streams."

"The energy that flows in the mirror bridges between here and Ventarra."

"Yeah— it's like he's in the center of a storm but the storm _twines_ around him in strands of blue-black energy. You have the same but...it's less intense. But it's _growing_ but it doesn't bother me as much. Which is weird."

"Why?"

"Chris was water. You're fire. I'm snow."

Kit grinned at her analogy. "Well, your psychic powers probably give you the ability to see things other humans can't. Len has a weird 'sense' too - but I think yours is stronger."

"Then why didn't I sense the advent energy around...that snake knight?" Neva felt saying his name would sully her tongue.

"Kamen Rider Strike. Maybe it's because you have Sting's Advent Deck now. Maybe advent energy makes you stronger, even if you can't actually use it."

Neva began to nod slowly but then winced, pressing her hand against her head as the advent siren rang in their minds, faintly.

Kit stiffened, looking around and stood slowly, his hand on his advent deck. "That's weird..."

Suddenly the chime turned to the sound of shattering glass and they both jumped. "What was that?" Neva asked, her voice shaking."

"It sounds like whatever was trying to come through, can't. Looks like this place is protected somehow..."

"Somehow?"

"Remember; I'm from Earth. Len probably knows more about this stuff than I do." He stood, extending a hand. "Come on, let's go back upstairs." Neva frowned. "Don't worry; Wing Knight doesn't bite."

_~We promise.~_

Neva turned, glancing around as a haze settled over her eyes and Chris appeared, leaning comfortably against the railing. _Chris_?

He grinned. ~_I had a feeling you and Kit would get along.~_

_Shut up. _Chris laughed and began to fade. W_ait, don't go!_

_"_Neva?" Kit was shaking her. "You okay?"

"Yeah...I was just...talking to Chris."

Kit tilted his head, then a bright smile creased his face. He took her hand without her offering it and pulled her to her feet. "Follow me." he said, leading her down the stairs. Neva resisted, frowning.

"Why should I?"

"Just trust me. But stay on your guard, just in case."

Neva sighed and let him lead her down the steps. "I don't think my parents would like this." she said, not really meaning it. After all, she was 19 and perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

"Then I guess you shouldn't tell him, now should you?" Kit reasoned.

"Are you sure you're a Knight?" she teased.

"Not really. I don't have a 'sir' in front of my name, now do I?"

* * *

><p><strong>Pacific Road - Safehouse for the Lost - 1:42 pm<strong>

"What's this place?" Danny asked. He and James were sitting in the advent bridge, watching the activity of the Safehouse from across the street; much to Xaviax's anger and confusion they couldn't get inside that place either, at least not through the mirrors.

"The Safehouse. It's a boarding home for runaways, orphans, college students. Most of the residents are under the age of 30, at least. This is where Miss Ramirez's troupe, the Soul Star Acrobats live. They do more than park gigs; they had enough money to buy this ranch house and remodel it."

The ranch house was only one floor and rather large; the roof was broken up into smaller sections and a brick path cut through the green lawn to the wide porch - a palm tree stood at the edge of the lawn, it's leave waving in the breeze.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Well, while the General is getting your brother out of jail, we're going to get into that house,"

"And how do we accomplish that?"

"Leave it to me."

Danny rolled his eyes as James stepped out of the Advent Bridge onto Earth and strode up to the Safehouse's large porch knocking on the front door.

Soon, he was awarded by a patter of footsteps. "Who is it?"

A little girl. "Hello, my name is Jack Masters. I was hoping I could talk to someone about the Soul Star Acrobatic Troupe?"

"Where are you from?"

"Revelry Entertainment Talent Agency.*" he replied without missing a beat.

"Oh, I've heard of them!" James silently wondered how old this little girl was. "BOOOSSSS!" the girl screamed, running away again. "Someone wants to talk to you!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Another talking chapter. :P yay, the Soul Star Troupe has appeared! I spent a lot of time picking over this... Is Neva and Kit's new friendship moving too fast? But then again, Kit and Maya hit it off pretty well pretty quickly...<strong>_

_**So, questions, comments, confusion? I'm not too sure about this myself...**_

_**Disclaimer: I know nothing about L.A. , so the places in here (like Pacific Village) are most likely a work of fiction.**_

_**Townhouses: I don't know if these exist in L.A.**_


	8. Ocean Currents

_**Disclaimer:** A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang, Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance._

_Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for being a loyal reviewer as usual._

_I apologize for the late posting but for starters I got lazy and then ontop of that my mother abducted my computer and wouldn't give it back so I couldn't type it either. :( I'm 19 years old – this should be illegal! Anyway, here it is. (Think of it like those abruptly not-aired episodes. At least you only had to wait an extra week, not several! _:D)

_Hope your holidays were more exciting/wonderful than mine. Happy New Year!_

_Posted: January 4, 2012, Wednesday_

_Edited: January 7, 2012, Saturday/Jan 28_

_Edited: June 21, 2012 - I realized there was some incorrect details._

_"Regular Speech" Private Thoughts/Emphasis/AN - "Radio/Cellphone" - :Speaking through the Mirror/Advent Beasts: - ~Spirit-Chris~ - **"Vent Announcement/Remembered Words."**_

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight <strong>

**Water Clock - Chapter 8: Ocean Currents**

* * *

><p>1:46 pm<p>

The Safehouse of the Lost was mostly inhabited by the orphans, runaways and the acrobats who took care of them and the occasional passing boarder or the kids they watched from around the block. Sometimes it was a trial, herding everyone into quiet clusters but it was worth.

Dylan and Olivia were sitting in the lounge surrounded by children of various ages quietly doing their homework at the small tables or on the floor reading quietly.

"BOOOSSSS!" Mellie's voice disrupted the silence. "Someone wants to talk to you!" The young African-American girl came skidding into the room, her beaded corn-row braids flying everywhere.

Immediately, clamor broke out. "Quiet!" Dylan commanded, bringing instant silence. "Go back to reading." With much whispering, the children obeyed.

Olivia stood, frowning at her as she walked over adjusted the girl's long skirt and matching aqua blue shirt. "Inside voice."

"Someone wants to talk to you." she repeated in a lower voice "He's outside." She pointed.

"Did he ask for me specifically?"

"No – he said he's from a talent agency." Mellie explained. "But Snow's not here." Snow was the children's nickname for Neva.

Olivia ran her hands through her dark brown hair and sighed. She and Mellie both had dark skin but Mellie's was bronze were Olivia's was a dark espresso. Olivia's hair was in cornrows as well, and a few braids were dyed red and she wore a simple green tank top with blue jeans.

"Did you open the door?" Dylan asked.

"No!" Mellie cried, sounding mortally insulted. Dylan calmed the eight year old.

"Sorry, sorry. Just making sure."

"Stay here." Olivia instructed as she stood. Dylan, being the one of the three troupe leaders, followed her to the door. "Excuse me, I was told there was someone at the door for me." Olivia said, peering through the spyhole.

"Yes, my name is Jack Masters from the Revelry Entertainment Talent Agency."

"You realize that's redundant?" Dylan commented.

"I know but I didn't come up with the name." there was laughter in his voice. "May I come in?"

Olivia exchange looks with Dylan who shrugged. Olivia frowned. "You're no help." Olivia opened the door at crack and leaned against the doorframe, looking Jack Masters up and down, taking in the motorcycle leather and jeans.

"You ride motorcycles?"

"So, you're just gonna make me hover over your shoulder?" Dylan asked. Olivia ignored him.

'Jack' smiled. "I do – I don't really need a car."

"So, you got papers? To prove you are who you say you are?"

Damnit, this woman was more suspicious and skeptical than Maya ever was. Fortunately, he was prepared and he pulled out a wallet with his fake name on it. Olivia took it, scratching a long nail across the surface and bending it gently.

"What do you want?" Dylan asked, shuffling to stand next Olivia instead of behind her.

"We were interested in possibly signing your troupe for an official contract." James explained. "We've seen the park performances. Your lead acrobat – Miss Neva Ramirez – is amazingly talented."

"How do you know her name?" Olivia demanded, throwing the card back at him. James didn't flinch; a suspicious woman indeed.

"He announced at one of the performances." James said without missing a beat. "And she signs autographs for the children."

Olivia cast Dylan a sideways glance; the redhead frowned and tried to remember announcing names.

"Well, you might as well come in. The troupe will be interested in what you have to say."

Olivia disappeared inside; James picked up his forged ID card and Dylan waved him inside. James smiled.

* * *

><p>Danny grinned as James disappeared into the house ahead of the red-head man; the door shut behind them. "About time!"<p>

"Miss Olivia is far too wary for my likening." Xaviax agreed, suddenly materializing next to Danny. Danny restrained a startled jump.

"What are you doing here? I never see you outside of that fortress of yours."

"Watch your tone, young Rider." Xaviax cautioned. "I have a job for you and your brother."

"You got him out?"

"Not yet. I thought... I'd let him think over it awhile." Danny growled; Xaviax flapped a dismissive hand. "No need to be so angry. You can fetch him right now. I need you two to do something."

* * *

><p><em>Kit's Apartment Complex: 1:52 pm<em>

Kit went around the rear of the stairs, pulling Neva with him, where there was another motorcycle chained to the stairs and covered by a dropcloth. She frowned and glanced at him.

Kit felt another guilty lump in his throat and grasping the cloth. "He left a lot of things behind." he explained, pulling it off.

Chris's motorcycle was one of those old-fashioned style ones – a Harley Davidson with a big central light in the front, and two rearview mirrors sticking out like ears black with some of the piping exposed. It fit his military character – the sweatshirt, occasional leather jacket, the camo pants he refused to let go.

Neva traced her hands over the bike, sitting in the seat and took a shuddering breath, leading over the bike. "This is ridiculous." she muttered, body shaking.

"What?"

"Why am I crying? I've never cried this much in my life!"

She didn't appear to be crying but then again she was staring down at the bike. Kit shuffled uncertainly on his feet. He'd never seen Maya cry and he'd never had many female friends either.

But the girls at Commerce High seemed to make a point of making the girl's bathroom the crying booth so by the time they came out they were composed and collected, comforted or mocked by their fellow females. His mother had cried at sad movies or out of frustration- a hug and chocolate always cheered her up.

"_A hug can work wonders_." his father had told him once after one of his few high school dates had randomly burst into tears in the middle of the sidewalk and he had frantically gotten her an apple, water and chocolate from the nearby store. Disaster had been averted but she was so embarrassed she had avoided him from that day forth.

Kit step up next to the bike and looped an arm around Neva comfortingly, marveling how fast the Advent War made people bond with one another.

"I'm sorry," he said, his head close to hers and he felt her hand come up over her shoulder and lace their fingers together, seeking human contact. "I'd bring him back if I could – we'll _try_."

"It's silly – marines die all the time. Chris isn't even dead."

She felt a second presence on her other side, hugging her awkwardly, telling her it was okay. _~I'm sorry, Nev.~_

_~It's okay.~_ Neva scrubbed the tears away.

"He's still your brother." Kit reminded her as a silent tear splashed onto the seat.

"I know."

* * *

><p><em>2:00 pm<em>

Len had busied himself with sweeping the glass in Kit's place – the younger Rider had been kind enough to let Len crash here instead of some abandoned Ventarran apartment or on an Terran park bench so he should do his part.

Maya was leaving Kit and Len cooking instructions - Kit had been forced to learn to cook properly in the foster home he had lived for a year so he was competent. So was Len because whoever had trained the Riders thought cooking was an essential skill but they had the same thing night after night and Kit complained that he was getting sick of noddles and rice.

The apartment had been filled with the sound of sweeping glass and Maya's moving about the kitchen as if she lived here.

"Len?"

The Rider grunted, still insulted by Neva's harsh words and ridden by the guilt she had stirred up.

"Why didn't the mirror let us through?"

"This place is protected to begin with." Len explained in a low voice, viciously sweeping the floor for any stray glass. "I think the advent beasts do it; put up a shield so people can't come through the mirrors. Neva's being here probably influenced the shield a bit more since she's a psychic – the Advent Master once told us that some people use more of their brain and that gives them heightened mental senses. That's what makes a lot of us Kamen Riders – something special. She feels safe with Kit so the shield kept us out."

Maya could understand that – Len must have felt like an alien presence to her if the stiffness and the way her eyes darted nervously from Len and back had been any indication. And Len could be dark – he had certainly not made a good first impression on her and Kit, mugging the poor kid for the advent deck and smashing Maya's camera.

But he'd _saved_ Neva twice and he had been _nice_ (as far as she knew) so why was Neva so antagonistic towards him?

"They're taking awhile." Maya said slowly.

"She probably doesn't want to come back if I'm here."

Maya sighed to herself. Why was it whenever a new person came into the equation, things were complicated before they were better? "She just needs time." Maya said, turning in his direction. "Just like Chris did."

"Maybe."

Maya was just about to scold him when the familiar Mirror Shriek cut through their minds. She could swear she heard Len sigh in relief as he dropped the broom and shovel.

"Stay here."

"I should go back to the shop." Maya protested.

"The shop isn't protected." Len reminded her as he stepped up to Kit's closet mirror and held out his advent deck. The advent deck crackled, producing the long sparks that materialized the advent belt around his waist. Sliding the card in, he called "Kamen Rider."

The transformation never ceased to amaze her - the Rider was in engulfed in dark blue light, the armor of Kamen Rider Wing Knight appearing around his body.

He curled his fingers, hand on his sword and glanced at her. "I mean it – stay put. I don't want to have worry about you too."

And then he stepped through the mirror and was gone.

* * *

><p><em>5:30 pm - Los Angeles Police Prescient<em>

Albert rolled his eyes as Detective Grimes led him out of the holding cell and to the lobby of the police station.

"I don't know what issues you may have with Kit Taylor," said the man, wondering why he seemed running into Kit's associates and friends so often. "But try to keep yourself alive."

"Yes, sir." Albert said condensingly.

"Your employer's here to pick you up." the Detective nodded to the front desk where the desk sergant was talking to Xaviax, who was dressed in a crisp business suit, and Danny. Danny looked bored, rocking back on his heels and looked up when Albert walked into the room.

"Bro!" Danny exclaimed in delight.

Grimes undid the handcuffs and the brothers reunited with a man-hug, clapping each other on the back.

"Keep him out of trouble, Mr..." Detective Grimes paused, nodding at the employer.

"Charles. Charles Windsor." Mr. Windsor presented all of his papers and he checked out. With a bright smile, Xaviax and his rouge Riders bid the police farewell.

"Don't make me have to bail you out again." Xaviax sighed as he walked the boys to their motorcycles. "Because I won't."

Albert flare up. "I was trying to – "

"Watch! The tongue." the alien warlord cautioned. "Just please. Use caution boys."

"We will." Danny assured him. "Won't we Albert?"

"Whatever." the taller brother said. "Why didn't you just come through a mirror to get me out?"

Xaviax shrugged. "A lesson had to be taught." he slid on his glasses. "Danny will tell you what needs to be done."

* * *

><p><em>Streets of L.A. - 2:30 pm<em>

The day felt long but it was only midafternoon and the dark was a long time coming.

Neva hadn't thought it would be a good idea to go riding in the first place so Kit made a compromise – they took Chris's bike, which was built for two people, so she wouldn't get separated from Kit and run into Xaviax's minions or worse – the cobra knight.

"You keep calling him that." Kit noted as Neva leaned against his back, her arms comfortably looped around the Rider's waist as they drove through the streets of the city.

Kit had quickly ducked into his room – which now had a mirror in it but not for the sake of vanity – and gotten his signature biker jacket; the black one with the red stripes on the shoulders.

Neva liked the smell of motorcycle leather and the feel of it. Not that she could smell anything but sweat in this helmet – it had been Chris's. She wished she didn't have to wear this stupid full-head helmet – she missed feeling the wind but she hadn't brought her own.

Len had confiscated Kit and Chris's helmets one day and cleverly installed voice-activated bluetooth receivers. He had no idea what a bluetooth was though and called them omnicoms instead. It had been a common communication tool on Ventarra, after the Advent Master made them aware of Xaviax's impending attack.

Inside the helmet, there were two earbud speakers by the head and a mouthpiece for them to talk through since not even the original Riders mastered the telepathy that the Advent Master had been capable of.

"Does he deserve a better name?" she sneered.

"Strike's just less of a mouthful."Kit quipped as a Mirror Shriek cut through his hearing.

Neva moaned and pressed into his back. "What is that awful noise?"

"You can hear it? Oh, never mind. You could see the monsters too." he remembered. "Have you been to Ventarra?"

"Not really. The monsters never took me there and you haven't either. But you took me through the mirror bridge."

"I should go check that alarm out." Kit muttered to himself.

**"**_**Forget it**_**.**" Len's voice cut into their link, sounding echo-ey.

"Huh?" Neva said in confusion.

"It's Len. He must be in the advent bridge."

_**"I am**_**."** the older Rider confirmed, using the advent cycle's omnicom to set up the omnicom in his Helm. **"**_**I'll care of this; you watch Neva**_**."**

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

_**"I'm sure. I need to let off some steam**_**." **Wing Knight cut off the contact abruptly.

Neva sighed. "It's been a long day."

Kit nodded in agreement. "Hey, we've driving around for awhile. Want some ice cream?"

"How did you guess?"

* * *

><p><em>Ventarra<em>

Wing Knight slotted one of his rarely used cards into the top of his Rapier as he briskly marched towards the Red Newts and the single Black Newt ringing two women and a small boy, herding them across the barren landscapes of Ventarra and ignoring the boy's whimpers of fear.

"Strike Vent.*" The monsters turned, clustering around the captured humans as a long blade in the shape of a bat's wing appeared on his arm.

He slotted another card. "Attack Vent."

_I need a wind._ He informed his advent beast.

"And where do think you're going?" Wing Knight asked the mirror monsters casually as they circled the captives. He sneered under his helmet and waited.

The Black Newt leading the squad charged forward; Wing Knight angled his Wing Blade, gripping his Rapier and lunged cutting down the Black Newt with an angling slice of the blade and launching an axe kick that caught the monster in the head.

It spun, allowing Wing Knight to slice the beast with the Wing Blade as Blackwing emerged from the advent void with a shriek. The great bat swooped downwards, letting powerful sweeps of its wings stir up a headwind forcing the Red Newts and captives to duck. The bat swooped down, whacking the monsters out of the way, harring them until they fled, abandoning their captives.

"Trick Vent." Several more Wing Knights appeared, all equipped with Black Rapiers and Wing Blades. They dutifully chased the fleeing monsters, Blackwing right behind them.

Wing Knight walked up to the terrified women and the boy.

"Are you alright? Anyone missing?"

The tallest woman glanced at her companions and hugged the boy close as they stood. "No. We're all here."

"Good. Follow me and I'll take you back."

"Where are we?" the shorter woman asked.

Wing Knight paused and beckoned them to go ahead, allowing him to guard the rear and watch for attack from all sides.

**"You are **really **bad at handling civilians." **Kit had scolded.

"This is the Mirror World." Wing Knight said, choosing to edit out things. They didn't need to know the whole story. "Now, when you get back to Earth, you're going to start seeing those monsters. Through mirrors, on the street. No one else can see them, unless they've been to this place." he gestured around them. "And been returned to Earth."

"What?"

"No one can see them unless they've been to the Mirror world." he repeated, trying to be patient with them. "Try to help those people; get them away from the danger if you can, okay? But don't get caught."

The women nodded as their little group stopped before a car and the little boy stared up at him with eyes of wonder. Wing Knight looked away. "You'll need to explain it to him. Come on, you and him." he pointed at the tall woman and the boy. "You need to go through the Glass Portal."

* * *

><p><em>Grace's Bookshop<em>

Trent had served several people today, relieved that Maya wasn't around to scare them off and busied himself with his own laptop, alternating between the internet and listing that days sales.

Lacey had been sitting in the backroom ever since Maya left, distracting herself with fashion sites and doing everything except what she was suppose to be doing – which was stealing Maya's laptop data to give to Michelle. But she stared at the hacker's flashdrive she'd been given and stuck it right back in her pocket, glancing occasionally at the picture of the Kamen Rider that Maya had carelessly left behind.

_They __**are**_ _real._ She reminded herself.

She had seen four men just walk through the glass – and not re-emerge on the other side and then one turned into a – a robot, she had said then. And then she left Maya there. Her best friend. Instead of bursting onto the scene like those times when some guy was hitting on her and didn't get the message. She had had no qualms about dumping a glass of soda or two over those men, none at all.

But this had been different. They were robots!

Lacey moaned and glanced at the picture for the umpteenth time, picking it up slowly. "But you don't look like a robot."

No, upon further inspection this Rider did not look like a robot. She remembered watching those movies about knights and gladiators – this one looked like a Knight. Sort of, despite the odd magenta coloring. The armor all matched – those shoulder guard things, helmet, chest and backplate, gauntlets. Heroic pose. Lacey turned over the photograph, wondering if this Rider had let Maya take a picture of him.

_Kamen Rider Sting_

_We'll miss you, Chris_

That's all it said. But it was enough to make Lacey stop and stare at that picture again. Kit had objected when that other guy had shoved Maya. He, that dark guy and the solider – the one in the camo pants and heavy boots – they'd gone through the mirrors. They weren't bad. She seen them – Len and Chris around the shop once or twice but the three men were always rushing off somewhere. They'd walked in when she was going to talk to Maya and Maya had totally blown her off, paying more attention to those three guys than her _best friend._

_Chris_. Maya had introduced them in passing after that encounter but he'd nodded, distracted and left the shop, following Kit and Len.

_Oh my god. _Lacey stared down at the picture of Kamen Rider Sting.

_We'll miss you Chris. _Maya had written.

What had happened to him? And could this happen to Maya too?

"_Lacey!" _The African-American girl nearly jumped out of her skin as Trent's voice rang from the shop front. "What are you doing, you said you were just checking your email!"

Lacey hastily stood, making sure she had everything as she closed out of internet browser. "I got distracted." she said, pushing the door open and nearly hitting Trent in the face. "I should go."

She ducked pass him hastily and fled the shop; Trent stared after her and felt something hit his foot.

He stooped to pick it up. "What's Lacey doing with a flashdrive?"

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the lateness. :( I've spent all of today editing and finishing this thing so I think it's good!<strong>

_**Have you realized that this is all taking place in one day? :P So, what did you think? Review :D**_


	9. Ocean Whirlpools

**Disclaimer:** _A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang, Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance._

_Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for being a loyal reviewer as usual._

_Posted: January 12, 2012 Edited: January 28, 2012_

_"Regular Speech"_ Private Thoughts/Emphasis/AN - _"_Radio/Cellphone" - :Speaking through the Mirror/Advent Beasts: - ~Spirit-Chris~ - _**"Vent Announcement/Remembered Words."**_

_(Word Count: 3281 )_

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Fanfiction<strong>

**Cry of the Ocean: Clepsydra - Chapter 9: Ocean Whirlpools**

* * *

><p><em>3 pm PDT* Kit's Apartment, Los Angeles<em>

Maya wished she had brought her laptop with her. Sighing, she busied herself with writing in her journal and sweeping up the last of the glass. She stuck a note to the fridge, reminding the guys to go grocery shopping and cooked the last of the steak so they could heat it up in the microwave when they got back.

If they were going to save the world, all that pizza, rice and noodles needed to stop.

Maya smiled to herself – she felt like their mother or their sister sometimes, but that was okay. They were her friends and while she couldn't go out and fight mirror monsters alongside them, she could help in small ways. Sometimes, a reminder of what they were protecting is all a solider needed to pull them from the fire.

Maya sat down at the kitchen counter, spreading her work out.

_**"I mean it – stay put. I don't want to have worry about you too."**_

"Well...at least he's nicer now." Maya reflected with a smile. Her phone rang at the moment and she dug in her bag for it. It was the shop. Trent. Figuring, she ignored him too much while she was out being moral support for the Riders, she answered it.

"Hey, Trent." she said. "What's up?"

_"Oh good, you actually answered your phone!_" Maya rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. _"Where are you?"_ Trent went on.

"I'm at Kit's place," the reporter explained. "Waiting for everyone to get back."

At the shop Trent, sitting at Maya's computer, frowned. _"Wait, where did they all go?"_

Maya winced. "Well...when Len and I got here, Kit and Neva were already here and Neva didn't like Len very much. Though I can't blame her...Len can be a little hard to deal with at first."

_"I guess - considering he smashed your camera and mugged Kit,"_ Trent said, recalling what he had been told at first about the dark stranger. _"But I thought he was nicer to her than to you guys. Didn't he save her?"_

"Yeah...but she accused him...of being responsible for Chris's...venting and they started yelling at each other." Maya sighed. "Kit was trying to get her to understand and told her everything that's happened and she's Chris's sister so he _had_ to tell her what happened to him. And she blames Len for it." Maya twirled a lock of hair in her fingers as she spoke.

_"Oh."_Trent shifted against his chair, at a loss for words. _"That's awkward."_

"Yeah. So, she stormed off – I didn't even notice, she was that quiet, and Kit ran after her. Then later, the advent gate opened so Len went fight the monsters. And he told me to stay here because the shop isn't protected."

_"Protected?"_

"Yeah – Kit's place is protected, you know from mirror monster invasion or from Riders coming through the mirror and I guess from...unwanted forces entering the place. Of course that could just be because, no one knows where Kit lives in the first place. Len says its advent beasts but I don't completely understand it myself."

_"Okay...oh! I almost forgot I called because I'm worried about Lacey."_

Maya blinked and sat up. "_You're _worried about _Lacey?"_

_"Hey, I'm still a person!"_

"I never said you weren't!"

Trent breathed heavily into the phone and leaned back in Maya's chair in front of the backroom's 'desk'. _"Look, we've always known that Lacey doesn't believe in the Riders but I think she's spooked. You left the picture of Sting by the computer. And I'm 100% sure that she saw it."_

Maya felt her heart sink. "Oh..."

_"I also found this flashdrive here– I think she dropped it. When I plugged it in, it started punching through all your codes to get your files."_

"What?" Maya's eyes widened in shock, her voice in panic and confusion. "A hackdrive? Why would she have something like that? Did you get rid of it?"

"I smashed it." he said simply and Maya laughed. "Though it would have been useful..."

"Well, that's one way to get rid of a hacking problem..."

_**"**Maya, if Lacey's knows and she scared, she's going to go to the police or something. Wait...they wouldn't believe her. Oh, maybe some government agent's been watching you and asked Lacey to help them, I don't know."_

"Why would she do that? ! She knows how important the laptop is to me."

_"Maya, calm down she's scared."_Trent reminded her. "_I think you should explain it to her then maybe she'll calm down. In the meantime, I'm encrypting your computer and transferring all of your sensitive Kamen Rider data to a secure portable_ drive."

Maya sighed in relief. "Trent, you're brilliant, thanks."

_"Hey, you may get to see all the exciting stuff but I can help out too."_

* * *

><p><em>3:00 pm – Soul Star Safehouse<em>

Within the darkened lounge room, the children were enraptured by James' display - twirling strings of light in the creating patterns and creatures that flickered briefly before fading. Soft gasps of wonder and admiration were the only noise - until Olivia slammed the door open, looking around suspiciously.

"Hey!" one of the children protested at the loud interruption.

Olivia ignored them and glared at 'Jack' who looked the picture of innocence. "What are you doing?"

"Entertaining them. They were giving me a headache. Calmed down like little lambs."

Olivia raised an eyebrow and threw something at Dylan who was sitting in the corner. He shifted slightly to duck the incoming missile and it missed. "You're useless!"

"_Someone_ needs to be friendly around here." Dylan said defensively.

Olivia curled her lip and beckoned 'Jack' to follow her, bending a finger before whirling around and practically gliding out of the room. James retrieved his jacket from the protective hold of one of the children. "Ollie's crabby around strangers." the little boy -Devin - explained and the others nodded in agreement, sharing grins. "Snow is nicer."

"Snow?" Jack asked and Dylan kept an eye cracked.

"She's the boss – Ollie's the deputy. But she's not here right now – been gone since this morning."

"Can't you call her?" Jack wondered. _They must mean Neva._

"Snow likes her 'me time'." Devin said. "She likes exploring the city."

"Masters!" Olivia's voice rang out sharply and 'Jack' stood.

"I should go." he said, shaking the boy's hand and he smiled.

"Good luck. Snow would probably be nicer."

"Too bad I didn't time it right." he sighed and stood, walking out of the room. _Too bad I didn't think of this sooner_

Olivia was hovering distrustingly by the door of the lounge; looking him up and down she led him to the kitchen; Dylan followed close behind.

"It's nothing against you." Dylan said, falling into step beside him. "She distrusts everyone it seems."

"Well, that's a shame. Do you know why?"

Dylan shrugged. "She's just naturally wary of everything and everyone. Neva's – that's Snow – she's the fighter, the sweet one."

_Didn't seem sweet to me._

"And I'm the friendly one."

_And the dumb one_. James thought.

Olivia looked critically over her shoulder at him and he ducked his head respectfully, feeling a chill. This was one woman his charisma wouldn't work on and he felt...nervous. For a second a silly thought crept into his mind – she was a mind-reader or something and he waved the idea away. _The General didn't detect anything special from the rest of the troupe._

"The kitchen." Olivia said, waving James to a seat by the counter. "Go away, Dylan. Watch the kids."

"I get no respect around here." Dylan sighed, strolling out.

James sat down – the kitchen was large. The kitchen island had several stools around it with drawers in the sides and places to tuck the legs under counter. The cooking area was to the left of the door when they walked in, a door to the patio directly in front of the main door.

But Olivia did not show him hospitality. She sat down across from him, folding her hands under her chin and crossing her legs, looking for all appearances an interrogator. "Why are you here?" she asked, eyes cold.

'Jack' felt the mirrors twist and Xaviax sighed. ~_That woman is giving you a hard time, isn't she?~_

_~She_ **is** _very suspicious. But don't worry I can handle this.~_

James clucked his tongue and leaned forward, placing his elbows on the counter as he propped up his chin on a fist. "I suppose you don't believe that I'm from a talent agent."

"No, I don't. I've seen talent agents and you don't fit the image."

"The image?" James scoffed. "Maybe I'm cut from a different mold."

"It's possible." Olivia conceded. "But I like to keep up to date on talent agencies." James swore softly. He'd selected a small one, an unknown one in the hopes that it would be obscurbe enough to evade investigation into his background but it appeared that it had backfired. "Revelry Entertainment not only _does not_ vouch for acrobatic troupes," Olivia continued, a dangerous smirk playing around her lips. "They've been shut down for a month."

Well, even hackers make mistakes. James didn't let his self loathing show on his face; he folded his hands on the table keeping his face and expression calm. "You're very observant, Miss Olivia. You're right – I'm not from a talent agency. But I _do_ have an interest in your troupe."

"Why? What's your game?"

Hesitation would be the death of him – rushing would too. He'd have to be careful. "I deal in information." he explained. "I'm a private investigator of sorts. Have you heard of the missing persons epidemic?"

Olivia's eyes widened before they relaxed again and her lips pursed. "Yes. We've had a few scares – a few boarders of ours went missing too."

"Well," he explained. "The mainstream media isn't covering much but online a number of investigative blogs have been looking into it."

"What does this have to do with Neva?"

James took out his wallet and slid it across the table. "I was friends with her brother. The marine. With Chris."

Olivia flipped it open, pulling out a picture of him and Chris – Xaviax had taken it from the mirror computer's afterimages James had been trying to convince the marine to betray Wing Knight and Dragon Knight and they looked at their most peaceful – not trying to kill each other. But Olivia didn't know that.

Olivia drew in a sharp breath. "She's been worried _sick_ about him!"

"Well, he and I met at a bookstore and we were discussing motorcycles and computers," James explained. "When he came down with a massive asthma attack. We had to call the hospital and he needed someone to vouch for him and so I went with him. He was really stubborn about not calling his family."

It was _complete_ lie but she was buying it – hook, line and sinker. Her expression gave away her every emotion - horror, shock, disbelief. James gave himself a mental pat on the back.

"He was living around the Gramercy Heights area. There was a...weird vigilante patrolling it and disappearances went down in that area. So for awhile he was okay. But he wanted to _do_something."

"Oh no."

"I told him not too – he was a marine with asthma – it was obvious he had been medically discharged. He went missing just two days ago. When the police entered his room – he was staying at a motel – his pack was gone and so was his motorcycle. A Harley-Davidson."

"Why did you pose as a talent agent?" Olivia asked abruptly.

"I wasn't sure how his sister would react to a random person showing up at the door and telling her her brother was dead or missing." James replied after a brief moment's pause.

Olivia sighed and pressed her friends against her skull. "Fair enough. Oh my god, Neva is going to freak..."

_You have no idea._

Olivia took a breath and drummed her fingers on the table. "So, it's Neva you want to see."

James inclined his head respectfully and Olivia stood. "Well, you came all this way...might as well show you some of that 'friendliness' Dylan's so proud of. Would you like something to drink?"

"That would be appreciated, thank you." James stood, casting off his jacket and making sure that his advent deck was in his jeans pocket. "By the way, can you direct me to the bathroom?"

* * *

><p><em>3:15 pm, an Ice Cream Parlor and Arcade<em>

Danny and Albert sat in the mirror bridge on their stolen motorcycles, watching Kit and Neva. Their bikes were parked by the curb and the Ice cream parlor's outdoor area had mostly young people – high schoolers and college students. Neva and Kit fit in perfectly with them and ordered a small dinner of Italian food. Neva had to coax Kit into eating his.

Albert leaned over his seat in boredom while Danny rapidly beat his fingers against the handle of the bike.

"Why can't Xaviax do this himself?" Albert whined. "Sitting here watching them is _gross_."

"At least they're not _kissing_."

"Yet."

Silently, Danny had to agreed with his brother though – it wasn't _his_ idea of an important mission, watching Kit and Neva sitting at one of the outdoor tables on the same bench talking over ice cream and laughing.

Danny rolled his eyes. "School boy's got a girlfriend, big deal."

"I think we should grab her now." Albert said impatiently. "I'm getting tired of waiting!"

_Now, now let's not be so hasty.~ _Xaviax cautioned. _~We don't want anything going awry.~_

* * *

><p><em>The Mechanical Fortress<em>

Xaviax was pleased by this turn of events. "Out in the open, unsuspecting and Wing Knight is nowhere to be found."

He chuckled to himself, rubbing his hands together. "It is more difficult to separate Neva from Kit than it was separate her brother from him and Wing Knight but I think we can make this work. What do you think, Mr. Taylor?"

The catatonic Frank Taylor sat in his wheelchair, staring listlessly and unresponsively into nothing but Xaviax kept talking to him anyway.

"Kit seems to be _so_ fond of her, so protective. Wouldn't it be a crying shame if anything where to happen to her?" Xaviax smiled and turned back to the mirror.

Kit and Neva were sitting across from each other eating their ice cream and Kit laughed when she got some of her pistachio ice cream on her nose. He leaned over the table to wipe it off with a flick of his thumb and Neva scrunched up her face at him which he just smiled at.

Xaviax grimace at the human 'sweetness' of the moment. "A crying shame."

_"General."_

Xaviax twisted his hand, bringing James' face into view on the screen. "Ah, Mr. Trademore. Good news, I hope?"

_"Miss Olivia trusts me now - not quite as much as I would like but...less antagonistic. Friendly, even."_

"Perfect. And you have a plan in place?"

The cobra knight smiled. "You're going to love this one, General." James promised, passing a folded paper through the mirror. "I guarantee it."

Xaviax accepted the paper, unfolding it swiftly and quickly read it – it was in his native language of Karsh, something he had taught James in case of events such as these and after a moment, the alien general folded the paper with a smile. "Excellent plan. We'll need to separate Kit and Miss Ramirez then. You shouldn't have to wait long."

"I can be patient." James assured him. "I should go."

"Of course. Charm your hosts, be their friend."

"What I'm best at.**"** he said, turning from the mirror as Xaviax waved his image away, replacing it with Wing Knight fighting off his minions. "Oh, he saved some civilians didn't he...?" Xaviax waved his hand. "Let's keep you occupied..."

* * *

><p><em>Earth - the Ice Cream Parlor<em>

"I have a question." Kit said slowly, spinning his spoon against the empty bowl.

"Go ahead."

"Um... if you're a marine – or your family are marines – haven't you... lost someone before?"

Neva licked her lips and nodded. "Uncles, aunts, cousins. A grandparent. But never a brother. Not yet. It's too soon." She stared at her bowl. "I guess, what you're really asking is – why am I angry at Len? Why do I blame him?"

Kit nodded and the girls sighed. " I guess I needed someone to be angry at. Also...he shouldn't have been fighting. Neither of you should have encouraged Chris to fight in the first place!"

Kit blinked in surprise.

"You told me, Maya had to _persuade_ him to help you!" Neva said, staring him dead in the face. "Why didn't you leave him be? He was _medically discharged! _His asthma could _kill him _if he put too much stress on the body and a solider who can't stand on his own two feet when he doesn't have anyone else is a liability to the unit."

"Wait, wait, how can you say that? He's your brother!"

"True – but I also wanted him to stay _alive_. Maybe, if he'd been given specialized training, training to make sure every shot _counted _or something like that maybe he could have stood a better chance."

~_You always were the one worrying about logistics and tactics.~_ Spirit-Chris sighed.

~_You confuse me when you're standing there but you're not.~_

_~Sorry. Just be careful, okay? ~_

_~I'll try.~_

Kit sighed, laying his hand on hers. "I think you're right. We could have done better, handling it I guess. We just so desperate. But... when he was fighting he felt like he was worth something. He had a purpose. He needed one."

Neva sighed. "I know. And that's what makes it so hard."

A waitress came by at that moment, smiling. "Are you finished? I can take your bowls."

"Oh, yeah thanks." The waitress collected their bowls and spoons.

"Can I get you anything else?"

"Um..." A mirror shriek cut through as Kit was speaking; Neva shrunk in her seat and Kit managed to hide his usual confused reaction. "We're fine."

"Okay, that'll be $10.50."

They both dug into their pockets for change as they stood; Kit shook his head at her. "My treat."

"But – "

"I'm not gonna take no for an answer." Kit paid the waitress in cash and Neva – being stubborn – gave the waitress a generous five dollar tip.

"Have a nice day." she said. Kit nodded distractedly as he rushed to the motorcycle.

"I need to put you someplace safe." Kit muttered. Neva frowned at him as he put on his helmet and handed her her own.

"You're cracked in the head." She didn't take it and crossed her arms. "I'm coming with you."

Kit sighed and sat down heavily on the motorcycle, turning the key in the ignition. "I don't think that is a really good idea with Xaviax after you and all."

"Should have thought of that sooner." she said haughtily. "He's not gonna turn _me_ into a damsel in distress. What do you take me for? I intend to fight him if I have to and I'll be damned as a marine if I let anyone stop me. You got that, Sir Knight?"

She didn't give him a chance to answer as she settled the helmet on her head and slid on the motorcycle behind him.

"Besides, hero," and she wrapped her hand around his own on throttle. "You're wasting time."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I am 75% certain of where this story is going. So what do you think? :D Please review!**

_**(Word Count: 3281 )**_

_***PDT - Pacific Daylight Time**_


	10. Snow Hunt

**Disclaimer:** _A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang, Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance._

_A/N: *coughs* So...hi! :D I'm back! And I apologize for not living up to my promise of Thursday updates but I came back to college THOUGHT I could keep up with this and then... I decided to actually focus on schoolwork which has led to recreational past times to be pushed to the side. That and I'm trying to be sociable! (off-line) and it's working! :D I'm actually becoming friends with an awful lot of upperclassmembers this semester... And I need to do paperwork and things. College is HECTIC! I'll try to be sterner about this fiction - like write it on weekends and this chapter has just been kinda…laying around in my flashdrive, forgotten… : ( (And I admit that i've bene kinda distracted by an MMORPG...)_

_**Updated:** February 24, 2012 (a Friday! le gasp!)_

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Fanfiction<strong>

_Cry of the Ocean - Clepsydra: Chapter 10: Snow Hunt_

* * *

><p><strong>3:25 pm<strong>

Danny and Albert followed close behind them as Kit and Neva drove away on Chris's motorcycle

_~I want you to keep Dragon Knight busy.~ _Xaviax directed. _~And James' trap for Ms. Ramirez has been set into place.~_

"All over it."

* * *

><p>Kit smiled under his helmet as he revved the engine of Chris' Harley-Davidson, turning it into traffic.<p>

"You're stubborn."

"I grew up the youngest of three brothers. Of course, I'm stubborn."

"Just make sure to use that knife of yours on the mirror monsters. They may be the bad guys but they're still people."

"Will do." Neva turned slightly, looking over her shoulder out of the corner of her eye. "I think we're being followed."

Kit hissed. "Axe and Spear." Then he smiled confidently. "Hey, you think you can throw them off our trail for a bit?"

"I suppose you want to blow something up again?"

"Yeah – aim for their bikes."

Neva raised an eyebrow under her helmet and chuckled. "Mischief maker."

"Hang on." Kit revved the motor and jerked the motorcycle into a sharp turn. Neva's only response was to clench one arm tighter around his middle, releasing one arm as she turned her head to glance over their shoulder. She spotted Albert and Danny turn the corner out of her peripheral and turned to glance at them in the rearview mirror.

"Can you get 'em?"

Neva frowned. ~_Just use your imagination.~_ Spirit-Chris suggested.

Neva's frowned quirked into a smirk as she imagined the bikes of the enemy riders suddenly spinning out of control. At first nothing happened. ~_Impose your_ **will** _silly.~ _Spirit-Chris chided.

"How am I supposed to do that? !" Neva shrieked, startling Kit.

Danny's bike suddenly twisted, its engine screaming in protest as it whirled around and skidded, sending it's rider flying off into the middle of traffic. The cars stopped, skidding to a halt as Albert brought his own motorcycle spinning to a stop and flung himself off his bike, tearing off his helmet.

"Bro, bro are you okay? !"

"Oh." Neva said dumbly. "That's how."

"We may need to work on the whole 'exploding emotions' things..." Kit muttered and then he laughed when Neva jabbed him.

"It worked didn't it?"

"You're getting better." Kit chuckled, driving through a parked car while everyone's attention was diverted.

* * *

><p>3:25 pm – Ventarra<p>

Wing Knight's 'Wing Lancer' pierced through the chest of the Red Newt, causing the offending monster to dissolve into smoke.

Breathing out slowly, the veteran Kamen Rider rose from his attack position and flexed his arm. He wasn't out of breath but it was coming in quicker puffs – he had been fighting for hours, chasing down monsters and rescuing their captives sometimes before they were pulled into the mirrors. He focused on his job rather than the infuriating psychic.

_Why am I always the one to blame... ?_ It was as if he was the scapegoat – and he probably was, as punishment for being the only surviving Ventarran Rider.

He shook this thought out of his head and walked over to his advent cycle, trying to regain his breath. _If only_ _Master Eubulon was here..._

But the Advent Master _wasn't_ here – not even his 2nd-in-command, Nolan was here. It was just him, just Wing Knight and _he_ had to be leader because he was the most experienced. Essentially, he was in charge of protecting an entire world – well, city but still - keeping Kit unvented, Maya and now Neva safe and hundreds of unrelated civilians. A lot of pressure.

As he settled his armored form into the advent cycle, an unwelcome sharp shriek met his ears. He could have banged his skull into the dashboard.

_Well..._ said Blackwing, speaking in sort-of human words, a combination of human-speak and 'beast-speak'. _Kit and Neva seem to be fine..._

"Yeah and we'll see how long that last."

_You have no confidence._

Wing Knight ignored his advent beast and charged up the advent cycle, steering it into the mirror bridge.

* * *

><p><strong>Ventarra - 4:00 pm<strong>

Neva almost chuckled to herself out of amusement – Dragon Knight kept creeping around corners as if he expected mirror monsters to pop up at any given moment. Though, given the circumstances it was perfectly legitimate. Despite this, she couldn't seem to stop a spate of the giggles.

"You're distracting me." Dragon Knight said, trying to sound stern. This only encouraged more giggles and he rolled his eyes under the helm. After a moment, Neva contained herself. She was from a Marine family, damnit. Giggling was unacceptable.

She swallowed her giggles and settled her hand onto her knife, silently reminding herself that in this moment she wasn't a civilian and this was _war_.

Dragon Knight turned a corner, sword at the ready and swept the area with a quick gaze.

"Sense anything off?" he asked.

"Um...creepy shadowy darkness?"

"Good," said Dragon Knight. "So am I. So, something's definitely here..."

"It's just hiding." Neva finished.

Dragon Knight nodded and stepped further out into the open, still surveying the area – tall balconies swooped overhead, walkways connecting the buildings around the plaza.

"I have a question." Neva said.

"Shoot."

"When you're fighting monsters on _Earth_, why do people _never_ come to see the commotion? Like in the museum?"

Dragon Knight paused for thought and when he finally spoke, he sounded disbelieving of his own answer, still wary of possible attackers. "Len says they're repelled."

"_Repelled_? Like bugs?" Dragon Knight did not get a chance to respond he was more concerned with exclaiming; "Look out!" and dodging a flying great shuriken with roll of to the side. Neva sidestepped out of the way of the shuriken and stabbed the attacking Red Newt in the torso, killing it and whirled into a vicious punch, the knife between her fingers and she swung her arm downward killing the next Red Newt.

And suddenly they were surrounded by Red Newts, separated and hemmed in on all sides.

"Neva!"

"I'm okay!" she called and stepped into a high block, switching her knife to her left hand. She pumped a kick into the chest of the offending Red Newt, sending it backwards.

"This isn't good!"

"Yes, Dragonling, thank you for pointing this out." Neva drawled as a Red Newt seized her by both arms. She immediately dropped into a horse stand – balanced, knees spread wide – throwing her attacker off-balance and bringing her arms together, holding the knife up away from her face before swinging an arm and stabbing the Red Newt in the leg. It reared back in pain releasing her and she stepped to the right with her left foot, dragging the dagger through its leg and torso as it dissolved into smoke.

"Use your powers!" Dragon Knight kicked another monster and spun around to slash another across the torso. Having gained a respite, he slotted a card.

"**Strike Vent."**

"I don't know how!"

"Get angry!"

Dragredder emerged from the mirrors behind his master, flames filling his maw. Neva wrenched her arm out of another Red Newt's grip and stabbed it in the torso before cartwheeling away. A burst of flame engulfed the Red Newt's heating up the battlefield but much to her surprise she remained completely unaffected despite being so close to the shot.

"I could have been charboiled!" Neva snapped at him as he cut down a few of the surviving Red Newts to get to her side and even more of them appeared on the scene.

"I wouldn't have done it if I didn't know you'd be okay."

"And how did you know?" Neva asked, pressing back to back with him.

He shrugged. "Dragredder told me."

"Excuse me? No, never mind – where are these things coming from?"

Dragon Knight groaned as Dragredder swooped again, lashing his tail violently and sweeping a section of the horde away. "I knew this was a bad idea...they're after _you_."

Chris's advent deck shimmered in her pocket. Neva scowled and blocked a strike from a monster with an 'x-block' – her arms crossed. Then she gripped the offending arm and twisted, jamming the arm over her shoulder and bending it backwards until the arm snapped and the monster collapsed onto the ground in pain.

"Damn, pox-rotten carcasses. Why am I reminded of a fantasy story? Untrained psychic meets other-dimensional armored knight and gets attacked by evil denizens from Hell."

Dragon Knight cut down several monsters and took his place by her side, sword poised over his head. "I feel your pain."

* * *

><p>Watching Dragon Knight and Neva swarmed by wave after wave of Red Newts on his monitors, Xaviax smiled and wave the image away, bringing Kamen Rider Strike onto the screen.<p>

"Keep Wing Knight busy. Are Axe and Spear in place?"

"Yes, General."

"Very good. You know what to do."

"Of course."

* * *

><p>Having chosen to abandon the advent cycle since having to burst through the mirrors and dispatch of minions was a rather frequent occurrence today, Wing Knight knelt on the back of his Advent Beast as it curved through the mirror bridge, searching for Dragon Knight and Neva's aura. A wave of corrupted auras almost concealed Dragon Knight's advent aura and Wing Knight's brow furrowed under his helm.<p>

_~Dragredder's helping.~ _Blackwing said.

"Hurry it up." Wing Knight snapped. He paused, turning his head just as the advent beast suddenly went off course, narrowly missing the spew of acid but a few flecks hit Blackwing's wing sending the beast crashing through the mirrors and back into the Ventarran plain.

Wing Knight rolled coming to his feet as the advent beast faded back into the mirror plains, his Rapier Visor at the ready as the cobra advent beast Venosnaker emerged from the advent bridge with Strike, standing on its head.

"Been busy, Wing Knight?" The cobra knight asked casually as if they were discussing the weather.

Wing Knight did not respond, watching the enemy Rider as he jumped down from the advent beast and slotted his sword card, summoning his unique sword.

"I don't have time for you." He snarled, slotting his own sword card. "_**Sword Vent."**_

Properly armed, the two Riders circled each other slowly, Venosnaker lurking in the background. Blackwing reappeared without being called, hanging from a building.

Strike chuckled humorlessly. "Oh I know."

_Stupid Kit. Bringing Neva to Ventarra was a mistake. "_Neva's not going to join Xaviax." Wing Knight said aloud. "She knows what you did to her brother."

"Does she?"

Wing Knight gritted his teeth. She hadn't mentioned it. Had Kit told _who_ had vented her brother?

He caught a flicker of movement; Wing Knight sidestepped, blocking Strike stab to his torso and twisted the sword upwards forcing Strike to skip back to avoid being disarmed. They clashed together again, the strange construction of their respective swords defying each other, slipping.

Wing Knight stomped down his foot, distracting Strike long enough to deliver a sharp sweeping kick that sent him down to the ground. Almost immediately, Wing Knight was forced to duck and roll as Venosnaker's tail swung where he had been seconds before – Blackwing swooped down with a screech, covering the advent cobra's vision with powerful beats of its wings.

* * *

><p><em>A short chapter after so many weeks of absence... T_T (and sue me I like metaphors. :P ) I need to keep up with the steady pace otherwise I lose steam. I should take to scribbling things down at least so things don't escape me. Updates may be more sporadic (as you many have noticed my only readerpossible other readers who chose to remain silent)_

_So comments, critiques? Is Kit in character? (i feel like I'm not quite capturing his voice...) Please review and give some feedback! Have a happy weekend!_


	11. Truths & Combat

**Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance.**

**I apologize for the wait. Before getting down to my studies, I've decided to attend to my fanfiction. Hopefully, once school is over I'll be able to finish this up.**

**Let's get on with it.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Posted: April 28th, 2012 (A Saturday because I haven't been updating regularly)<em>**

_"Regular Speech"_ Private Thoughts/Emphasis/AN - _"_Radio/Cellphone" - :Speaking through the Mirror/Advent Beasts: - ~Spirit-Chris~ - _**"Vent Announcement/Remembered Words."**_

_**"Vent Announcement."**_

_Word Count: 2521_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<em>**

**_Cry of the Ocean - Clepsydra: Chapter 11: Truths & Combat_**

* * *

><p><span>4:15 pm<span>

Maya decided to leave Kit's place – she was pretty confident that Xaviax had no interest in her whatsoever – and took a taxi to the shop, while texting Lacey to meet her there.

She sighed and leaned her head against the window, watching the streets sail pass and for just a moment she wished that there _were no paranormal wars_ going on behind every glass, mirror or pool of water. To go back to a normal daily life and a sense of security would nice because for her one adventure was enough for a lifetime. Now she couldn't even look in a mirror without checking for a monster on the other side.

* * *

><p><span>Grace's Books<span>

Lacey sat in the armchair by the window, paging through a magazine but she wasn't really paying attention to it. An uncomfortable silence hung over the bookstore as Trent pushed the bookcart around, replacing displaced books.

Every few minutes, Lacey would look out of the window, looking for Maya.

"Why did you do it?"

"Huh?" Lacey turned her attention to Trent who was leaning against the bookcart.

"Why did you try to steal Maya's data? You know -"

"Don't you accuse me!" Lacey flared, shooting to her feet and pointing at him. "I thought Maya was in _danger__! _I was worried! She's my best friend!"

"And stealing her data explains what? How does stealing her data keep Maya safe?" Trent demanded.

Lacey folded her arms and went back to staring out the window. "You'll find out when Maya gets here. And not before."

* * *

><p>The wait wasn't a long one. Only a few minutes later, a taxi stopped outside of the shop and Maya got out, paying the taxi driver before walking into the store, her arrival announced by the jiggling of bells and the fact Lacey immediately engulfed her in a tight hug.<p>

"Maya, I'm so sorry! I was worried about you, I didn't know what to do. I thought you were in trouble!"

Maya laughed at her friend's antics and hugged her back. "It's okay, Lacey - I'll explain _everything_."

"How did you find out in the first place?" Trent asked from the counter as Maya turned the store sign to 'Closed' and locking the door so it wouldn't open from the outside. "You didn't even believe in the Kamen Riders."

"I saw them, okay?" Lacey snapped and Maya waved an arm to stop an impending argument.

"Let's go to the back. Trent, you mind turning down the lights?"

* * *

><p>Trent closed the backroom door behind him, leaning against it. Lacey was on the couch and Maya had elected to sit on one of the swivel chairs.<p>

"A few days ago, I want to talk you about the whole Kamen Rider thing." Lacey began, staring at her fingers. "But I didn't want to say it over the phone. So I came to the shop. But those guys - Kit, Len, the other guy, Chris. They were already there. And, you don't really pay attention to me when they're around. So, I was going to wait until they left. But then those Asian brothers walked into the store."

"Axe and Spear," Trent muttered darkly.

"What?"

"Never mind, Lacey, we'll explain that in a minute. Go on,"

"I saw all of them _go through the _front door's glass and the taller Asian transforming into some sort of ... robotic knight type thing! I freaked out, Maya. I didn't know what to think. So...I left."

Trent and Maya exchanged looks; Trent looked slightly convinced while Maya just look saddened - most likely for paying so little attention to her friend. "Is there more to this story?" Trent asked.

"I ran into Michelle Walsh,"

"Really? !" Trent burst out.

"Trent!" Maya snapped.

"Michelle said she knew about the...Kamen Riders. Or a little about it. But not the details. That she was worried about your safety and she could see that Kit and Len and Chris - that they're dangerous! And maybe it's not their fault but they've got evil monsters and maniacs after them. And it didn't matter if she was lying!" she snapped at Trent. "_I_was worried. She said she had friends who could help and she need your journal so all I had to do was plug in the jumpdrive into your laptop and it would do the rest. But then I saw the picture of Sting and I chickened out and I dropped the flashdrive when I left."

"Ran away." Trent muttered. "Have you called Michelle?" he asked.

"No."

"Keep it that way." Maya said, rising from her chair and sitting next to Lacey. "I'm sorry you were so confused and scared, Lacey. I'll explain it all - starting from the beginning,"

"The beginning?"

"Yes. I'm not going to deny that the Kamen Riders aren't dangerous. They are. They're soliders, knights and they're trying to save the world and they have to fight armies of minions to do it. But you have no idea what they've _lost_ to make them _fight_ this war. And not just Len, Kit and Chris. All of them."

Lacey nodded slowly.

"I promise though- they're not going to let anything hurt me. That's how I met Kit and Len. Kit saw the monsters who were going to attack me."

"And Len did the saving," Trent added.

Maya laughed lightly at Lacey's alarmed look. "Kit was just figuring it out. Though, I have to warn you - Kit gave a _much_ better first impression than Len did."

* * *

><p><span>Ventarra - 4: 30 pm<span>

Fighting back-to-back, Dragon Knight and Neva managed to cut a swath through the mob of mirror monsters, making their way to a more open area. The remaining mirror monsters gave chase as Dragon Knight slotted a card into his Vent Summoner.

"**Strike Vent."**

A Dragon's head appeared on Dragon Knight's right hand as Dragredder appear once more, shooting long jets of flame at the monsters.

Neva's senses pricked and she spun around, Sting's advent deck glowing in her pocket as she raised her hand. A projection of energy knocked Destwilder out of the air and sent the mechanical tiger tumbling to the ground several feet away.

"Neva!" Dragon Knight left the monsters to his dragon, darting in front of her. "Where's Axe?"

Neva pointed as Axe and Spear stepped out of a nearby pool of water. Dragon Knight sighed. "We do _not_ have time for this."

Neva ran her fingers over the etchings in her brother's advent deck and growled in frustration. If _she_ could use an advent deck, she would be of a lot more help but all she had was mostly-untested pyschic powers and her combat knife.

"Well, well, well. If isn't the princess and her dragon knight." Axe mocked. Almost immediately, in a haze of magenta light, the tiles of the plaza erupted beneath his feet, sending him hurtling backwards.

"Danny! Are you okay?" Spear asked as Axe groaned. Spear helped Axe to his feet.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"You're gonna pay for that, princess!"

Dragon Knight looked at Neva over his shoulder; she looked enraged. "Does being called a princess make you that angry?"

"When it's applied to mean 'damsel in distress' yes. It does." She stepped from behind Dragon Knight, sheathing her combat knife. "Why don't we make this interesting? No armor, no powers, no weapons, no minions, no advent decks or other supernatural things. Just you. Unarmed combat. 2 versus 2."

Spear helped Axe to his feet and the two brothers exchanged looks. "Sounds like fun,"

The two brothers powered down and Dragon Knight did the same. Dragredder and Destwilder both disappeared. Neva discarded her bag as the four of them took up their different fighting stances.

"When you're ready."

* * *

><p>"No!" Xaviax's angry bellow echoed through the Mechanical Fortress's control room. "Don't <em>fight<em> them, capture the girl!"

_She's smarter than they are. She'll turn this to her advantage. _He had been confident that the Brothers Cho could handle Kit - Neva was the unstable factor. Now, he could see that her powers were controlled by her emotions at the moment - they were practically unpredictable.

Growling, he activated the comlink to Strike.

"Strike, change in plans."

* * *

><p>Wing Knight jumped onto Blackwing's back, avoiding Venosnaker's spew of acid just in time. Wing Knight jumped again, landing Venosnaker's head and sliding down his long body. The cobra thrashed forcing Wing Knight to somersault off but he landed in front of Strike, their swords clashing. Sparks flew up and the two knight leapt backwards, circling each other as their two advent beasts stood at their backs.<p>

_"Strike, change in plans_." Xaviax's voice suddenly came through the omnicom in his helmet. _"Forget the fight with Wing Knight - Axe and Spear have done something stupid. It would be far simpler to let them relax and then put your plan into action."_

Strike dodged Wing Knight's sword attack, rolling out of the way as Venosnaker unleashed another torrent of acid breath; Blackwing swooped in pulling Wing Knight out of the way but got some acid on his wings in the process.

"On my way, General,"

Wing Knight came up, glancing around, sword up.

_:They're gone:_ Blackwing said dumbly, wincing about his damaged wings._ :Why did he leave?:_

"Neva." Wing Knight breathed in horror. The sudden interference from the advent plains was so great, he couldn't sense Kit or Neva's auras anymore. "We have to go see if her and Kit are alright."

* * *

><p>Danny attacked first, charging towards Kit. The young Rider ducked his punch, coming from underneath with an uppercut and block a knee jab with his forearm before whipped his fist into his eye, sending Danny reeling backwards.<p>

Kit moved in with a series of kicks and jabs but Danny sidestepped, his injured eye closed and blocked with forearms and shield blocks before attacking with aerial kicks.

Albert's every strike was blocked by Neva's fluid movements - a twist of the hand, a skip back, a bob to the left or the right. Albert feinted punching for the head but his left hand aimed for her stomach. Her other arm swooped down to block it as the right arm swung into an upper block, deflecting the first arm. She pushed both of his arms out of the way, grabbed him by the collar and brought him in close, slamming her knee into his gut.

The air rushed right out of him and she swung her leg behind his sending him off balance and hooking her arm around his neck in a guillotine chokehold, applying pressure. He wheezed, flailing.

"Kit move!" Neva pivoted, throwing Albert towards Danny and both brothers went crashing to the ground.

They gasped for breath, scrambling to their feet as Kit and Neva took up their fighting stances again.

"Cheater!" Albert accused and Neva shrugged.

"No holds barred."

Suddenly, something sharp poked Albert in the back and the new Rider looked behind him in confusion. "Come on, bro," Danny scolded. "Focus,"

"Something poked me!"

The water rippled and Wing Knight stepped out, still in full armor and pointing the Wing Lancer threateningly at the pair. Blackwing flew overhead, circling. The brothers slowly put their hands up. Wing Knight turned pointing the brothers towards the pool and kicked them both into it, making them fall into the mirror portal beneath its surface.

"Great timing!" Kit approved as Neva dropped her stance and picked up her bag.

"Xaviax was trying to split us all up," Wing Knight noted. "He sent Strike to distract me but he bailed." He looked around. There wasn't a mirror monster in sight. A portion of the plaza looked as if it had been blown up because there was a large hole in the ground and tiles scatterd everywhere. There were scorch marks and the sent of burnt stone, glass and soot everywhere but other than looking tired and bruised, Neva and Kit looked fine.

Wing Knight breathed a sigh of relief and powered down before approaching them.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Kit said as Neva hummed in agreement. Len looked at the pair of them and sighed. "Come on, let's get our motorcycles and get out of this place. I feel like I've been fighting nonstop."

"I hear that," Kit stretched his arms over his head as Neva fell into step beside him. "I'm sore all over,"

* * *

><p>The ride back to Kit's place was a silent. Kit and Neva rode on Chris's bike behind Len in silence not even talking to each other.<p>

_If anything had happened to her, I would have never forgive myself_. Len glanced in the mirror, making sure Kit and Neva were still behind him.

If she wasn't Chris's sister she wouldn't be in this mess. Neither of them would feel so guilt-driven for her. As much as Len hated to admit it - Strike had been _right_. Would he care this much about what she thought and what happened to her if she wasn't Chris's sister? With Maya it had been different. She was a civilian - and then a friend of Kit's. A friend would help Kit on the right path. But Neva - she was a comrade's sister. Which made her _their_ sister, in a way.

* * *

><p>They walked into Kit's apartment in silence and Len took off his jacket, looking around. He frowned. "I told Maya to wait <em>here<em>!"

"I'll call her," Kit volunteered, going to the phone. Neva sat down at the kitchen counter and Len followed her, leaning on the opposite side of the counter. She looked up at him and Len took a breath.

"I think...I owe you an apology, Neva,"

Neva stared at him a moment and shook her head. "No. I was the one out of line. You have every right to react the way you did. I just needed someone to hate in that moment. I should be hating Xaviax - and Strike. He was the one who really took my brother from me. But you were just the closest person to blame and that was unfair."

"We're both at fault then - we both should have been more patient."

Neva nodded in agreement. "Friends?" she offered, extending a hand and Len took it with a faint smile.

"Friends,"

* * *

><p><strong>I gave up on the snowocean related metaphorical titles. :P Yay, Neva and Len reconciled! :D It seems like Strike vs. Wing Knight battles are always cut short in this fiction - but then again they've only battled twice (in this fiction).**

**Notes: I decided that advent beasts can only be heard by their fellow advent beasts and their contract Rider. That way I don't have to deal with so many characters. Also, I didn't like the idea of Destwilder (Axe's advent beast) beig a humanoid tiger - i thought a normal-looking mechanical tiger would be cooler.**

**Please review. Sorry for the long wait. Next posting date is uncertain.**


	12. Debrief at Low Tide

**Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance.**

**_Posted: 5-15-2012_**

"Regular Speech"__ Private Thoughts/Emphasis/AN - _"_Radio/Cellphone" - :Speaking through the Mirror/Advent Beasts: - ~Spirit-Chris~ - _**"Vent Announcement/Remembered Words."**_

_I wanted to give everyone a better visual of Neva. I didn't want a known actress 'playing' in this as Neva so I just looked around the internet for a girl who looked liked Neva to me._

_http:/ / www. corbisimages. com/ stock-photo/ rights-managed /42-20173724/ teenage-girl-in-swing_

_http:/ / www. corbis images. com /stock-photo/ rights-managed/ 42-20170972 / teenage-girl-with-long-brunette-hair_

_http:/ / www. corbisimages. com/ stock-photo /rights-managed /42-20170969 /teenage-girl-listening-to-earbuds_

_(of course remove the spaces) _I know - next to the other women characters of KRDK, (my) Neva (model) doesn't look like much but I think she has a quieter beauty.

I also changed the look of the Safehouse and edited Chapter 7 accordingly. I've gone through the entire story and edited Timestamps as well.

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Cry of the Ocean - Clepsydra: Chapter 12: Debrief at Low Tide**

* * *

><p>5:00 pm PDT<p>

Danny and Albert were protesting when Strike dragged them into the central room of Xaviax's Mechanical Fortress.

"General,"

Xaviax waved an impatient hand at them, changing the images on the screen, looking through the mirrors. "I'm looking for Miss Ramirez and her Riders." After a few moments, Xaviax growled in anger and gave up, turning to face the three Riders - James was still in armor.

"Why did you let Wing Knight get away from Strike?" Danny demanded when Strike shoved him and Albert forward. "We could have gotten Dragon Knight and the girl right there!"

"Why? Why?" Xaviax stalked forward and the Brothers Cho skirted nervously backwards. "Did you notice that she used her telekinesis when you insulted her? Neva's powers are manifesting and she can't control them!" Xaviax hissed. "Like this, she's even more dangerous. Her powers are linked to her _emotions_ - the angrier she is, the more threatened she feels, the more telekinetic energy she will release. _Especially_ as long as she has Sting's advent deck!"

"If we take away the advent deck, won't the problem be solved?" the cobra Rider asked.

"Not entirely." Xaviax turned away then, staring distractedly into the distance. "A number of humans are different from the rest of their species - she's one of them. If she wasn't Sting's sister it would have been easy to capture her but I didn't even pick her up before Sting was vented." He frowned. "She would have been a valuable asset."

"Wait," Strike said slowly. "You didn't pick her up until after Sting was vented?"

"That's correct. With her energy signature, I should have. Which can only mean... the enemy advent beasts know about her." _The advent beasts, luckily can't stray from their riders' control, a small blessing. And with the muting I've placed on my own Riders' advent beasts...I should have no interference._

"They can think?" Albert said and Strike rolled his eyes behind his helmet. Xaiviax sighed. "Yes, they can."

"Can they talk?" Danny asked.

"No." _Not ways you can understand._

"Are we implementing the plan I suggested before, General?" Strike asked.

"Yes, we are. Neva won't join us and blackmail only works for so long. She isn't desperate enough for me to exploit her love for her brother and she has the damned marine honor code in her head."

"Drain her energy." Strike suggested. "Like -" He trailed off deliberately and shook his head. "No, that was wrong."

But Xaiviax got the message. Danny and Albert only knew so much - Drain her energy like he had done with the others, the normal humans and then use her powers as his own.

"Danny, Albert. Why don't you train with the minions? Next time you three meet Neva I want her captured - _don't fight her_. Destabilizing something as volatile as... your human emotions could be your undoing."

Albert looked ready to protest but Danny jabbed him with an elbow. "Ow!"

"Sure - we could use the exercise. Come on Albert," The two brothers disappeared through the mirror and Xaiviax waited a few minutes before turning to Strike who had finally disarmed.

"I don't think Miss Ramirez is going to live through this,"

He watched James' expression carefully; while in Xaiviax's service James had never outright murdered any of his fellow humans. James looked uncertain for only a moment and then nodded. "I understand."

* * *

><p><strong><em>The Bookshop - 5:00 pm<em>**

The Bookshop was closed for the day, the curtains drawn over the windows. Lacey sat in the chair by the window, tapping her fingers together in thought before she sat up. "Okay, lemme get this straight. On the other side of every mirror on Earth, is _another _Earth, another dimension, called Ventarra."

"Right,"

"And the defenders of Ventarra are twelve ... armored knights called Kamen Riders. Originally, they fought a war - the First Rider War - against Xaviax and his hordes of ... minion monsters. They won, they thought they did but then Xaviax came back and one of the original Riders betrayed them. All of the Riders except Len was vented and Xaviax took the advent decks of the vented Riders to give to people on Earth - the Earth counterparts of the Ventarrans. Mirror twins,"

"Very good, Lacey," said Trent in a half-mocking way. "You actually sound smart!"

"Trent!" Maya scolded slapping him on the arm.

Lacey sneered at Trent and continued. "He tricks the Earth Riders by promising them want they want or blackmailing them into getting back what he took from them. Incisor wanted money, Drew was a con-man who got in over his head. Camo just wanted to fight, Brad was framed, and Chris..." she paused here. "He just wanted to serve his country but he had asthma and was medically discharged from the military."

Maya nodded sadly.

"And Kit's father was kidnapped a year ago - he was put in foster care and when he turned 18, he went back home and found the Dragon Advent Deck on his kitchen counter. Then he started to see the mirror monsters and that was how he met you, Maya." Lacey giggled at this.

"Yup, I thought he was _insane_ at first. But then I bumped into the monsters I couldn't see and it grabbed me. When I was in the mirror bridge, I _finally_ saw it but Len came to the rescue,"

"Sort of," Trent said and the three of them laughed.

"Then Len mugged Kit for the advent deck - Kit ran away and Len smashed Maya's camera. You know, I should give him a piece of my mind for that. We spent _weeks _looking for the right one!"

Maya sighed. "Believe me I tried. He's a little busy with saving the world though. I have a new camera - though it's not as good as my old one..."

The sound Maya's cellphone ringtone rang through the shop. Trent handed it to her before she could dive for it. Whispering a thank you, Maya answered it.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, it's Kit. Len's wondering why you aren't here,"_

_"_Oh, sorry - oh, wait, you're back? Is Neva okay?"

"_Yeah, yeah, she's_ fine." Kit laughed. "_I like having her as a partner better than Wing Knight."_

_"I heard that!"_

_"Oh, relax Wing Nut. __Kinda glad I didn't get stuck with a damsel in distress_." Kit added to Maya.

"_You're welcome!" _Neva called.

Maya giggled. "I had to come to the shop because Lacey found out about the Kamen Riders and - "

_"Wait, wait. wait. I thought your friend didn't believe in Riders!"_

"Well...she kinda saw you guys and Axe and Spear that day..."

Kit groaned, calling away from the phone. "_Len, we're idiots!"_

_"Why?"_

_"We used supernatural powers in a shop with glass windows in BROAD DAYLIGHT. Lacey saw us."_

_"Maya's friend?"_

"Your phone picks up a lot of voices," Maya noted.

Lacey was waving her arms, trying catch her attention. She put her hand over the phone. "Yes, Lacey?"

"Who is it?"

"It's one of the Riders, Kit."

"_Maya?" _Maya went back to the line.

"Yeah, I'm still here. We sort of had to explain it to her, but she promises not to tell _anyone_." To be honest, Maya still felt slightly guilty about it, though she had tried to tell Lacey before. See was believing - how could you deny something that stood before your very eyes? She was just glad that Lacey's confusion and concern encouraged her to talk to her, Maya, instead of handing senstitive data to Michelle

"They'll think I'm insane!" Lacey said as Trent nodded in agreement. "Oh, oh tell them about Michelle!"

"Oh, I should warn you there's a reporter called Michelle Walsh, trying to get information on you guys,"

_"Isn't she that annoying woman who got you fired?"_

"Yes...She tried to get Lacey to hack my computer with a special drive but Trent put in extra security measures and Lacey didn't like that idea very much,"

_"Good. Oh, by the way - Len and Neva made up."_

"Oh, that's great."

_"We'll swing by the shop tomorrow. In the meantime, don't walk down any dark alleys,"_

Maya laughed, remembering that walking down an alley was what made her run into Kit and Len for the first time. "Don't worry, I've learned my lesson. See you later,"

"_Later,"_

* * *

><p><span>Gramercy Heights - Motel - 5:15 pm<span>

The shadows were lengthening but there were still a few hours till dusk and small fluffy clouds decorating the blue skies when a black and blue modified sport motorcycle - a Kawaski Ninja 650R - pulled into the nearest parking space in front of the humble but decent motel.

The bike looked well kept with a midnight blue finish on the fairing. Clearly the motorcycle was built for speed and its rider certainly looked bushwhacked judging from the dust and grime of his clothes. The midnight blue helmet matched the motorcycle and he wore army-issue camo pants and boots with a leather bomber jacket, a leather packet secured to his back.

The engine died and the rider carefully removed his helmet, revealing tanned skin and close-cut dark hair, broad eyebrows and a sharp nose, rounded jaw and curved lips.

He scanned the parking lot of the motel quickly and took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Gramercy Heights Motel...looks like this is the place," It was nice to take a break to visit an old friend, no matter how much fun snooping in a government base could be.

"And they're not _even_ official government,"

X-O-X-O-X

The lobby was nice, homey even with a few couches in front of the counter.

"Excuse me," the solider said, drawing the attention of the male clerk.

"Oh, yes, good day. Is anything you need? A room?" The clerk looked too pale, his glasses nearly slipping off his nose and the solider frowned. He looked as if he would be blown over with a puff of wind. _Great choice of motel, Chris._

"No, I'm looking for a friend of mine. Christopher Ramirez?"

"And you would be...?"

"Dacian Marcelli," The clerk looked him over.

"Both solider boys, I see,"

Dacian growled. "Just get me his room,"

"Certainly, sir," The clerk looked it up on the computer, adjusting his glasses. "Room B12. The floor above this on, up the backstairs."

"Thanks,"

**_Gramercy Heights Motel - Room B12_**

"Chris?" Dacian knocked on the door for umpteenth time and frowned. "I guess he's not home..."

This was definitely Chris's room... even with his powers in 'standby', he could see a faint vision of Chris opening this door. Glancing around for anyone coming down the hallway, Dacian placed his hand on the doorknob, closing his eyes and opening them, a faint white haze covering his vision.

_A faded version of the door, opened by Chris's hand revealed a plain room with a single bed and a small TV atop a chest of drawers. The discharged Marine dumped his pack on the bed, coughing hoarsely and scrambling for his inhaler. He took a breath from it and sank to the bed catching his breath before slipping the inhaler into his pocket and standing drawing something else form another pocket. He drew the curtains tightly closed and turned back to the mirror mounted on the back of a closet door. He held up the strange magenta colored rectangle and pointed it at the mirror._

_"Kamen Rider."_

_Intersecting lines of magenta appeared around him, encasing the marine in black and magenta body armor. Chris stepped through the mirror and was gone._

Dacian released the doorknob with a gasp. _Chris...what have you gotten into?_

He moaned, rubbing his head. "Damnit, Chris..."_ Guess I'd better call Nevena and hope baby girl still believes in my visions._

* * *

><p><strong>Kit's Place<strong>

Neva, Kit and Len ate an early dinner at quietly at Kit's kitchen counter - steak and rice with drinks of their choice.

"Today or tomorrow, we should visit Maya at the shop," Len said abruptly, finishing off his drink of milk. "The three of us,"

Neva and Kit looked up; the young Rider frowned. "Why the shop? You said it's not protected."

"With Neva there, it will be,"

Kit and Neva exchanged looks. "What do you have to do with anything?" Kit asked her and she shrugged cluelessly.

"Neva's a true psychic." Len explained. "The Kamen Riders were chosen because our mental abilities are stronger than most others. Neva's is stronger. The advent beasts - Dragredder, Blackwing, and maybe Evildiver, they know that. So they make the mirror barriers stronger."

"Who's Blackwing and Evildiver?" Neva asked.

"Mine and Sting's advent beasts," Len said. "When Maya and I tried to come here earlier through the mirrors, we couldn't. You were shutting us out,"

"_Really? _Wow, sorry about that. I had no idea."

Kit tapped his head lightly with his hand. "Oh, that must be why that guy couldn't get through the courtyard mirror when you ran away!"

Len whirled around to face them. "What guy?"

Kit raised his hands in a calming gesture, motioning for Len to calm down. "Earlier...when Neva and I were talking on the steps, we heard the mirror chime and then...it sounded like chimes shattering so we assumed that the portal was closed somehow. We never saw who it was." Neva nodded in agreement.

Len nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds about right."

"Wow, if I can get these powers under control I won't even need an advent deck," Neva commented. "Not that I can get one...but it would be nice if I could control these psychic abilities, nonetheless,"

"I agree," Len said, nodding before taking another bite of steak. Kit and Len fell into conversation about mirror monsters and training times - Kit didn't seem to like most of Len's training times but he insisted that early mornings were best.

Neva took the time to fish out her cellphone - which she had forgotten to turn on - and check her messages.

"35 missed calls? Geez, you'd think I was dying or something!" Neva muttered in amazement. "Wow, and 10 voice messages and... 25 text messages.. Bet they're all from the same person."

"Well, we _were _fighting Kamen Riders and Mirror Monsters all day," Kit pointed out.

"But I go out _all_ the time! What's got them so worked up?" Neva sighed and started scrolling through her messages and texts. "My housemates are freaking out for some reason..."

"Housemates?" Len asked, frowning.

"Yeah - I took over this Safehouse for orphans when I turned 18 and got discharged from the military program. We keep boarders in there to help pay for the kids' expenses and things and the troupe takes turns taking care of them."

"Gee, wish I'd know that a year ago," Kit muttered.

"That's sounds really good." Len approved. "Too bad there aren't more of those around,"

Neva nodded in agreement. "I think I'll head home," Neva decided, gathering her things into her bag and turning over Chris' pack.

"We'll go with you," Len said and Neva rolled her eyes.

"I don't need an escort," Both Kit and Len gave her looks and Neva sighed. "Okay, okay, maybe I do. But I'm riding Chris' motorcycle, thank you!"

"No problem. What do the messages say?"

"Well, Ollie - Olivia, I mean, she's my friend -" Neva scrolled through her text messages. "- says something about a weird talent scout guy who was not a talent scout and allegedly knew my brother...and that he disappeared." Neva frowned and the Riders shared her discomfort.

"Well, that doesn't sound odd at all," Kit said with false cheer.

"Lemme call the house first," Neva said, dialing the number as the familiar piercing shriek-whistle of the mirror alarm sounded.

Kit thumped his head into the counter. "And to think I actually thought we'd catch a break," he said sarcastically, grabbing some saran wrap to cover his and Len's food.

"I can come help," Neva offered.

"No, stay here and call your friends." Len said. Neva looked ready to object. "I know you can fight but we don't want to give Xaiviax any openings to actually grabbing you,"

Neva scowled darkly. "Don't worry - we'll be back as soon as we can," Kit assured her, slinging on his coat. "Spare key's by the door," Kit said, pointing to the table by the door. Len finished putting away their plates and Len and Kit stepped through the door mirror into the advent void.

* * *

><p><strong>Streets of L.A. - A Car<strong>

Michelle Walsh leaned back in her car seat and sighed, finally accepting that Lacey was not going to pick up her phone no matter how many times she called.

_She must've chickened out._

Chewing her lip, thoughtfully, the reporter took out a blackberry from the glove compartment and dialed another number on the new phone with her heart in her throat and waited for answer.

_"Agent Walsh, do you have anything to report?"_

Michelle sighed. "Unfortunately, sir, no. My informant seems to have gotten cold feet,"

_"Any other leads?"_

"All I know is a prime suspect in our investigation besides Maya Young is her friend Kit Taylor. And he's only been by the shop once today."

"_I see,"_ Agent Phillips did not sound pleased._ "If Ms. Sheridian won't help save her friend, we will need another solution to our problem."_

"I'll get on that, sir,"

_"No, Agent Walsh. We need you back at base. We seemed to have experienced a security breach,"_

"From the aliens?"

_"No, it seems to be of human origin. And it came from within our walls,"_

"I'll be right there, sir," Michelle said, starting her car.

* * *

><p><strong><em><em>Word Count: 2939 (story only)<em>_**

**_A quiet chapter as the title warns. Hey, a new character appears! He completely surprised me, by the way. Didn't really plan for him._**

**_J.D. Pardo - portraying Dacian Marcelli - img. poptower. com/ pic-88714 /jd-pardo. jpg?d=600 _**_- link to a picture of the actor I chose to portray Dacian in this fiction. Take out the spaces. :) Fun fact - this actor actually inspired the character though I used an existing name I had in my files._

**_Um... this story seems be venturing dangerously close to erupting out of the boundaries I set...namely rewriting the entire end of the show...Oh well. I do like this story and I do have more ideas for it - may need to brush up on my KRDK lore though... :P_**

**_Okay, I'm going to aim for updates every TUESDAY now._**

**_Please review and I hope you enjoyed._**


	13. Communication

Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Steve and Micheal Wang, Jimmy Sprauge for their unified creative brilliance.

_Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for her usual review. Don't worry - _Dacian's full role in this story will be revealed soon. :) (Did you look at the pictures?)__

__Private Thoughts, _"_Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:,__ **"Vent Announcement."**__

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Cry of the Ocean - Clepsydra:**** Chapter 13: Communication**

* * *

><p><em>The Mechanical Fortress - 5:45 pm<em>

"Wing Knight and Dragon Knight are in the open," Xaviax said, watching the pair emerge into Ventarran in full armor. "I'll send a horde of mirror monsters to distract them with..."

"Send us," Danny suggested, walking through one of the narrow halls, followed by his brother. "Those minions of yours barely stand a chance,"

"I'm not sending Newts this time - Sheerghosts work better for this."

James was lounging on a nearby chair, making phone calls. "And you're setting up the next phase of our plan?"

"Yes, of course. I've had to make a few adjustments but I think it'll work just as well,"

* * *

><p>The Troupe Safehouse<p>

The ranch house on Pacific Road was quiet from the outside. It was only one floor and rather large in floor space; the roof was broken up into smaller sections and a brick path cut through the green lawn to the wide porch - a palm tree stood at the edge of the lawn, it's leave waving in the breeze.

On the patio in the backyard, Olivia smiled faintly and leaned back against the lawn chair/ watching the kids play with their boarders and troupe members in the grass and in the pool.

"Still no call from Neva?" Dylan asked, walking over a towel slung over his shoulders.

Olivia shook her head just as the cellphone rang. "Hello?"

"_Why are you bombarding me with voice and text messages?" _Neva sounded mildly exasperated

"Neva! Where have you been?"

"_Out. In the city. Where I often wander around. It's uncommon. What's this about a weird talent scout?"_

_"_Didn't you read my text messages?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then come back - we need to talk in person,"

Back at Kit's place Neva chewed her lip thoughtfully. _Len and Kit told me to stay put... I wish I could pass through the mirrors at will..._"Gimme a sec," she said as the phone line went off signaling another call coming through.

* * *

><p><strong>Streets of L.A. - Gramercy Heights<strong>

"Hey, baby girl, miss me?" Dacian grinned at Neva's responding groan.

_"I told you to quit calling me that," _she reminded him.

The marine chuckled, leaning against his motorcycle. "Yeah, I know." Dacian leaned against his motorcycle, parked outside of the motel. "Listen, have you seen Chris around?"

_"No...why?"_

"I swung by the motel he was staying at in town - "

Neva pretended to intake sharp breath of anger – well sort of. She was still mad at him. _"He was staying in town and didn't tell me?"_

"Oh, well that explains a lot. I swung by and he wasn't there - but I'm guessing you wouldn't know where he is,"

Dacian had known Chris and her family since early childhood, played with his brothers, sisters and cousins, got along with Chris's aunts, parents and uncles, went to the Marine Military Acacdemy Summer Camp (MMASC) (For Boys) since they were twelve years old. It wasn't uncommon to see him lounging around the family home as if he belonged there - which he did.

_"I do and I don't. And yes, I know that's contradictory."_

Dacian laughed. "Well, can we meet up? Maybe we can find him together?"

_"Uh..." _Neva sounded nervous and at Kit's place she raked her fingers through her loose brown hair._ "I've__ had a crazy day...hard to believe it's still the same day,"_

"Oh? Lots of performances, crazy kids driving you insane? I _told_ you it was a mistake taking over that Safehouse!"

_"Are you teasing me?"_

"Of course,' Dacian said innocently, knowing she could hear the smile in his voice.

Neva rolled her eyes. _"Hang__ on, I have another call on hold. I'll get back to you."_

* * *

><p>Olivia snapped at Neva when she was taken off hold. "About time!"<p>

_"There's no need for hostility. Look, a family friend just called about Chris - I'll have to call you back okay?"_

"Keep me posted or so help me, I'll hunt you down," Olivia threatened.

_"I'll keep that in mind," _Neva said wryly, disconnecting with Olivia and switching back to Dacian.

* * *

><p>"Where do you want to meet?" Neva asked. She had wandered over to Kit's couch, stretching out across it.<p>

_"Your place?"_

_"_You're a bad influence on the kids and Olivia dislikes you,"

Dacian laughed. "_There's a pretty good cafe near where I am," _he offered as Kit's house phone rang. Neva threw up her hands.

"_Kuso_, why is the phone going off all of the sudden? !"

"Another call?"

"House phone,"

"I thought you weren't _at_ home," Dacian said suspiciously.

"I'm chilling at a friend's house until they get back," Neva explained. "Gimme a sec," Neva's hand hovered over the phone for a minute before putting it on speaker. "Hello?"

_"Is this Kit Taylor's place?"_

"Who's speaking?"

_"Detective Grimes from the local police department. We've received a recent tip-off about the disappearance of Kit's father from the hospital - "_

_I thought Kit didn't tell anyone about that. And no one noticed that Kit's dad disappeared either!_

_" - something about Rosedale Industrial Park?" _Grimes was saying.

_Is this really Detective Grimes, whoever that is?_

_"_Are you really Detective Grimes?" Neva asked, keeping her voice even.

_"Of course," _he sounded offended._"Kit's father may be at Rosedale Industrial Park. I thought Kit would like to check it out,'_

"You're a cop. Shouldn't you be handling this?"

_"His father hasn't been missing long enough."_

"You - "

The line cut off and Neva frowned at it. "That was so _not_ a cop,"

_"Nevena?"_Dacian said from her cellphone._"What was that about? Whatever is, it sounded fishy,"_

Neva was about to speak when she caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, flickering the surface of the windows and the mirror on the door that led to...something. A closet perhaps. But the flicker was blue and it was snake-like and...and...wait. Was it staring?

Neva turned to look dead at it - at the blue thing in the window's reflection but it was gone. Neva frowned.

"_Nevena? You there?" _Dacian said.

"Yeah, I'm here," she said, tearing her gaze away from the window and picking up a slip of paper by the phone - the address of Maya's bookshop. "Can you meet me at a specific bookshop?"

* * *

><p><span>Ventarra<span>

"I don't like this," Dragon Knight confessed as they sent a pair of humans back to Earth. "What if this is a plot from Xaviax, trying to separate us from Neva? Maybe we should have brought her with us – at least we could keep an eye on her,"

"I thought of that." Wing Knight confessed. "But if she _stays put_, she should be fine,"

"If she stays put," Dragon Knight muttered.

Wing Knight nodded absently. "I've realized a trick we can do," Dragon Knight gave his partner an odd look at the change in subject. "We can remove the hostages memories of the mirror world. Or make it seem as if was a dream." Wing Knight explained.

"Really?"

"They'll try to brush it off anyway. Just have the advent beast enforced the suggestion and put them somewhere where they'll be likely to randomly fall asleep. Like a bench or a couch in a bookstore,"

"Oh, okay. That sounds good."

Another mirror shriek went off and Dragon Knight groaned. Wing Knight gestured to the mirror. "Better go check it out," the younger Rider nodded in agreement as they both stepped through the windows.

* * *

><p><span>Streets of L.A. - Near Bookshop<span>

Dacian was leaning against his bike after he secured his backpack in his rear 'glove' compartment when Neva brought Chris' bike to a stop behind his a block away from Grace's Books.

Neva took off her helmet and set down the kickstand of the bike as Dacian stood, greeting her with open arms and a wide smile. "There's my favorite sister-by-arms,"

Neva laughed good-naturally, as he wrapped her in a hug, shoving him slightly. Dacian had adopted the term 'sister-by-arms' because he and Chris had been brothers-in-arms but Dacian and Nevena had never been in the same military establishment at the same time.

"That terms always sounded weird,"

Dacian shrugged. "Brought you a present," he added, pulling a plastic wrapped package from the motorcycle's left rear glove compartment.

"Dace," Neva sighed, using his nickname. "You don't have to get me presents every time you see me, you know,"

"I don't get you present every time I see but come on, lemme me spoil you, Nevi." he shoved it into hers. "Open it. Tell me about this Kit person. His dad's missing?"

"Yeah – and I think someone just told us where he is," Nevena unwrapped the package revealing a black leather jacket with several inner pockets and a hood. She smiled.

"And you want to go rescue Kit's dad for him?"

"Yup." she slid the jacket on. "I like the present. Makes me fit in,"

"Glad you like it. Shouldn't your friend rescue his dad himself? And that detective sounded _really_ strange. Either he's incompetent or it wasn't really a cop,"

"It's definitely a trap - but whoever set it knows I'll come anyway, that's why they didn't bother being subtle."

"But if you were at Kit's place - why _were _you there anyway?" Dacian asked, suspiciously.

Neva rolled her eyes. "Well, this morning I was attacked by...let's call them thugs and the guy who helped me fight them drove me to the museum because he offered. And then I ran into this _other _guy and he's the same guy who took Kit's father from the hospital and the one who's responsible for Chris's disappearance,"

Dacian's eyebrow rose. "Disappearance? Random guys? Geez, Nevena, what have you gotten into? That sounded _way _oversimplified!"

Neva nodded. "It's really crazy so if anything weird happens, just... go with it."

"What kind of weird? Mystical armor weird?" Neva stared at him. "Come on, Neva. You know the rumors. I always know what's happened – even when I'm not there,"

Neva stared at the sky in thought. "Kind of like how I accidently broke the bike I was trying to fix when I was 10?"

"Exactly. You're not the only weird one, Nevena,"

Neva smiled. She had always known she and Dacian weren't exactly normal - when they were young Dacian had known Chris's health was worsening before the doctors did, or that their younger cousin had broken his arm falling down the stairs seconds after it happened. It was something his family and the Ramirez's had come to understand and expect. The military wrote it off as 'good instinct'. "Good to know,"

"So, you still want to go save Kit's father even though you _know_ it's a trap,"

"Yeah."

"Perfect." Dacian just grinned. "Because my life's been getting pretty weird lately too," _So much for believing my visions. Neva's dragging me into something even more crazy..._

"Tell me all about it later." Neva said, walking down the sidewalk and becokning Dacian to follow. "We need to make a quick stop first."

Dacian laced his fingers together, cracking them as he stretched his arms over his head. "You and Chris are probably the only people in the world I'd follow without question,"

"Not even your superior officer?"

"He – or she – isn't family,"

Neva smiled faintly but was distracted by a trace of blue out of the corner of her eye - from a window again. She whipped her head around to look but the movement and the blue flash was gone.

"Something wrong?"

"Just the sun in my eye, I guess. Come on,"

* * *

><p><strong>The Bookshop - 5:45 pm<strong>

"And Chris was one of the Riders Xaviax tricked into working for him - by pretending he was from Homeland Security?" Lacey sounded appalled. "That's just wrong! All the guy wanted to do was serve his country! All the other guys were jerks! Well, except Brad. He was blackmailed."

"Xaviax doesn't understand human emotions - but he understands well enough so he can manipulate them," Maya agreed.

"And...Chris got vented protecting Wing Knight," Lacey added sadly and Maya nodded. "And now Xaviax is after his sister, Neva, who is apparently a psychic with telekinetic powers. Is that all of it? Incisor, Camo, Torque, Thrust, Strike, Sting, Wing Knight, Dragon Knight..."

"Axe and Spear," Maya finished.

"That's..." Lacey counted on her fingers. "Ten Riders. Where's the last two?"

"I'm kind of hoping they don't show up," Maya confessed. "And if they do - hopefully they'll be on our side,"

"So far, that seems unlikely," Lacey muttered as her stomach grumbled. She moaned. "When is Trent going to get back with that Chinese food?"

"I'll go see what's taking him," Maya volunteered.

"Can't you just call him?"

"Um...Spear kinda broke it when he transformed in here last time," Maya explained, gathering her bag.

"Oh,"

"Can you handle watching the store for a bit? I shouldn't be long at all,"

"No problem." Lacey waved her friend towards the door. "I need to think anyway,"

Maya twisted her fingers in her bag, chewing her lip. "Lacey, if you have anymore scares, just call me," Maya said.

"No worries. I'm never going to another word to anyone about Kamen Riders again." Lacey promised, pretending to lock her lips and throw away the key.

Maya smiled brightly, giving Lacey a one-armed hug before leaving the shop. The bell jingled as she left and Lacey sat back down in the seat by the door.

"How does she do it?"

For a few moments, she was left alone and only had to ring up three customers who had entered the shop before Trent had left. Then she returned to her seat by the window but her thoughts were interrupted by the jingle of a bell. Lacey stood up to see who it was and sat back down, skin prickling. He was dangerous - or a fighter at least. That much she knew.

It was a solider. Or a marine. He walked into the store decked out in camo pants and leather bomber jacket**. **The woman who followed him was a bit shorter than he was. She had a leather jacket over a green top, her light brown hair left loose, tumbling around her shoulders.

"Hi," the woman said, turning to Lacey. "Is Maya Young here?"

"Um, no, she just stepped out," Lacey said apologetically. "Are you...Neva Ramirez?"

"You must be Lacey," she replied instead, fishing an envelope out of her pocket. "Do me a favor. Give this Maya when she gets back – and if Kit and Len swing by give it to them instead,"

"Wait, is it..." Lacey trailed, off eyeing the Marine glancing around the store, randomly plucking books off the shelves and putting them back without even looking at them. Then he ambled over to the counter, running his hand along it, his eyes closed.

_He's hot...but a bit on the strange side_. Lacey decided.

"Oh, this is Dacian." Neva introduced and the Marine simply nodded at Lacey in acknowledgment. Lacey waved. "Friend of Chris. You knew 'im right?"

"Not personally, no."

"Well, we got a lead on something and we're gonna check it out." Dacian explained. "Rosedale Industrial Park,"

"What's there?" Neva glanced at Dacian who nodded once and Neva leaned in close.

"Kit's father,"

"Then shouldn't you call Kit?"

"That's why I'm leaving a message," Neva said. "Don't worry – we're marines. We can handle this."

"Ex-Marines," Dacian corrected. "But yeah we can handle it,"

"Hey, wait a sec!" Lacey called as the pair left the store. "Should you really be dragging him into this mess?" She pointed at Dacian and the Marine grinned at her.

"Should you, sweetheart?"

Neva punched him in the shoulder, dragging him out. "He's cool!"

"And tell them we're ninety-five percent sure this is a trap," Dacian added.

"But – but …" Lacey sighed as they ran off down the sidewalk. "Maybe Maya should have stayed..."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Machine Fortress<span>**

Xaviax let out a Karshian curse – the mirror screen showed not only Neva but Dacian on their motorcycles heading for the Industrial Park.

"Another Esper, another _marine and _a friend of the fallen Sting no less! And who knows what _his _psychic abilities are." Xaviax waved the image away and paced the room, still scowling before turning back to the mirrors.

"James,"

_:Yes, General__,: _the Terran Rider's face appeared in the mirror, Kit's father was in view beside him, listlessly staring into the ground.

"I have unfortunate news – Neva's bringing a friend with her. A fellow ex-Marine Esper named Dacian,"

_:Another Psychic? What can he do?:_

"Unfortunately, I don't know – I didn't pick him up until he and Neva appeared together,"

James frowned. _:These Psychics are a serious blindspot,:_

"Which is why it is good they're headed to your location – together,"

This time James' face lit up in realization. _:If we take them both out at once, it won't be a problem,:_

"The only problem we have is that fact Private Marcelli's abilities are unknown to us,"

_:I'll have Spear or Axe remain in concealment and strike when he isn't expecting it.:_

"Very good. Be sure that you don't underestimate either of them,"

_:And separate Neva from her brother's advent deck,:_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Esper - another term for Psychic<em>**

**_Wow, I'm on a roll. :D I finished this almost as soon as I finished Chapter 12. But now I'm stuck on chapter 14...and spent time editing this one a bit...I have notice there have been a lot of phone conversations in this story lately..._**

**_I'm 75% sure there's going to be sequel to this. I'm also 85% sure that my sequel will end up rewriting a good chunk of the end episodes of KRDK...I have too many ideas bouncing around my head! Oh well. I think this will have...less than 25 chapters. between 15 and 20 chapters - (please note - I like to overestimate to give myself room._**


	14. Riding Blind

_**Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance.**_

_Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for her usual (albiet late) review. lol_

_**Posted:**__ May 29, 2012_

_Private Thoughts, "Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, __**"Vent Announcement."**_

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Water Clock - Chapter 14: Riding Blind**

* * *

><p><strong>Ventarra - 5:45 pm<strong>

_"_Kit!" Wing Knight raised his Wing Lancer over his head, holding back the sharp pincer of the crab monster as Kit was thrown over the crab monster and across the plaza rolling. The spider beast shrieked, chasing after the fallen Dragon Knight and Wing Knight scrambled to get a card into his Black Visor.

**"****_Attack Vent,"_**

A burst of flame erupted from Dragon Knight's direction, blasting the spider beast into the crab beast - Wing Knight had to duck - and Dragredder's roar shook the plaza as the dragon flew out of the advent bridge spewing fire.

The crab beast collapsed under the onslaught but the spider fired off a web and crawled up a building.

Wing Knight lurched to his feet, using his sword as a cane.

"You're not going anywhere!" Dragon Knight jumped, grasping Dragredder's metal scales as the mechanical yinlong dragon flew upwards.

_**"Sword Vent,"**_

"Kit, what are you doing!?"

"My job!" Dragon Knight scrambled up Dragredder, jumping onto his head.

Wing Knight growled and slotted a card. **"****_Flight Vent, "_**Black Wing emerged, attaching to Wing Knight as a cape.

The dragon launched Dragon Knight upwards onto the roof of the building in front of the spider beast as he fired off a stream of fire. The flame encased Dragon Knight as he landed, spinning around and slashing the spider beast. An anguish cry and a jolt of pain made it scramble back but Dragon Knight kept pressing the attack until Wing Knight soared over the roof's edge, sending his sword straight through the spider's beast head.

With a shriek, it tilted crashing onto it's side and began to dissolve into dust particles.

Both knights rolled to a stop; Dragon Knight collapsed on the rooftop, Dragredder circling over him briefly before taking flight and seizing the energy the spider beast had left behind. Wing Knight knelt down to catch his breath.

"Don't run off like that," the older Rider scolded, looking at Dragon Knight's prone form, laying on the ground back first. His breaths were coming in short gasps, trying to catch his breath. Red light traced around the suit and a minute later, he had dematerializated the armor, revealing a red-face, breathless Kit Taylor staring up at the still-blue sky of late afternoon.

"I know. That's how Chris nearly got kil-vented," Kit swallowed, not looking at Wing Knight and the Ventarran felt his heart grow cold again.

There was a long pause as the Riders caught their breath. "It's Neva isn't it?" Len asked after a moment.

"What?"

"You were...more angry while you were fighting. More desperate,"

"It isn't Neva." Kit snapped, his voice cold, causing Wing Knight to look at him with concern.

"Len, I realized something when we were chasing those monsters. I forgot about my own _father. _My _dad. _Neva can fight, he can't. I've been so focus on keeping Chris's sister safe because we couldn't anything for Chris that...I just forgot about my own father!" Kit pushed himself up, leaning on an elbow and looked at Len. "My father's been captured by Xaviax. He's in a coma and defenseless and he's more danger than Neva and I _forgot_ about my own father...!" His breath hitched sharply and he turned away from Len, his voice full of self-hate. "What kind of son am I?"

_Damnit_. Len demateralized the armor, walking over to Kit and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We'll save them both. Neva will even help, you know that,"

But he couldn't help be recall James' ominous words earlier that day - it seemed so long ago now. "_...you can't possibly save both Chris' sister __**and**__ Kit's father. You're gonna have to choose..."_

How could they choose? Would they have to?

"I know she will. But what if - "

"I tried keeping her out of the fight - you see where that got me," Len reminded him, coaxing a low chuckle out of the Terran Kamen Rider.

"True,"

"Come on, let's check in with Maya, then we can check on Neva," Kit's stomach growled loudly as Len gave him a hand up and he gave Kit a look. "You're hungry again already?"

Kit sighed as he let Len help him to his feet. "Fighting takes a lot out of you." he said simply

* * *

><p><strong>6:00 pm PDT - Streets of L.A.<strong>

Dacian and Neva stopped at traffic light waiting for the light turn green.

Drumming her fingers against the handlebars, Neva heard a snicker from Dacian and looked at him, frowning even though he couldn't see it since they were both wearing helmets.

"Something funny?"

"We should get you your own motorcycle - that's kinda big for you," Dacian sniggered.

Neva rolled her eyes as the light turned green and they took off, Neva leading the way. A faint chime-shriek rang through her eyes - the same as the advent music but...more friendly. Neva looked around, spotting a movement out of the corner of her eye.

A long blue serpentine thing was flitting through the windows, the light glimmering.

"Hey Neva, watch the road!"

Neva tore her gaze away from the blue serpent thing and swerved around a car.

_"At first, Dragredder terrified me. He kept following me around, popping out of mirrors and stuff." _Kit had said.

_But I can't be a Kamen Rider! The advent deck belongs to Chris!_

* * *

><p><strong>Earth - The Bookshop<strong>

"Lacey, we're back!" Maya announced, kicking the door open with her foot. She and Trent were carrying two bags each - Lacey was just handing another customer his purchase.

"Oh perfect, I'm _starving!_" she said before adding a 'Have a nice day' to the customer who ducked around Trent and Maya before leaving. "Why did you get so much food?"

"To last us for the next few days - the Riders act like this is their base of operations so I figured we stock up," Trent explained. "And it's the traditional_, money eating healthy_ Chinese food because _Maya_ insisted."

"Len said himself that they needed to eat better - they can't save the world on terrible food now can they?" Maya reasoned as the shop door opened.

"Another mirror monster bites the dust." Kit said in monotone as he sank into the chair by the door. Len followed him into the shop.

"Kit's, what's wrong?"

"He's worried about his father," Len explained for him

"I've so caught up protecting Neva today that I almost completely forgot about my dad,"

"Kit, don't -" Maya started.

"Oh!" Lacey exclaimed, running around the counter to snatch up an evenlope. "I may have a solution to your problem,"

Everyone stared at her. "You?" Trent said in disbelief.

"Well, not _me _specifically," Lacey admitted after sticking her tongue out at him childishly. "But a girl who I _think_ was Neva mentioned she was going to go save him,"

"WHAT!?" Kit shoot out of his seat.

Lacey held up her hands as Kit and Len started talking at once. "What is she thinking!?"

"She went _alone? _Against Strike?"

"Xaviax is hunting her down and she walks right up to his doorstep!?"

"Guys, calm down!" Maya said. "I'm sure Neva can handle herself, don't go off the deep end!"

"Wait," Trent said slowly. "How does she even know where Kit's father being held?"

"She said Rosedale Industrial Park," Lacey said. "And she did leave a letter," She handed it to Len who ripped it open. "And she wasn't alone,"

"What, wait?" Kit looked confused.

"She had some guy with her - "

"So, instead of going alone she plucked some random guy -" Len started, sounding outraged.

"He's a Marine!" Lacey burst out. "Well, ex-Marine and she said he was a friend of Chris."

"This doesn't make any sense," Kit muttered, looking over the letter. "The hospital thinks my dad is still there - they see an illusion so why would Detective Grimes know about it?"

"Dacian - that's the ex-Marine that was with her - said they were 95% sure it was a trap," Lacey added, feeling important. She kinda like 'mission control' even though it wasn't really - plus all the Riders (male Marines) she seen in past few weeks didn't look that bad. She supposed not being a good little spy for Michelle would come back to bite her later but right now she resolved to enjoy this - even if the fate of the world was at stake.

"No one _ever_ stays put!" Len growled.

Lacey threw her hands up. "Well, don't just stand there! You're knights, right? Go save her! Them,"

"Save some food for us," Kit managed to quip before they left the store.

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Maya called, running out after them after grabbing her bag and keys.

"Maya!" Trent and Lacey objected.

"No," Len said, pushing her back in the shop. "This time, stay put,"

"They need a car to get Kit's father out safely," Maya pointed out. "All the Riders ride motorcycles!"

Kit winced, looking at Len. "She has a point. Lacey, how long ago did they leave?"

"Um..about five minutes before Trent and Maya came back and you walked in right after them,"

Len growled. "Listen to everything we say, got that?" Len said and Maya nodded vigorously, hair bouncing. "Let's ride,"

* * *

><p><strong>Rosedale Industrial Park – 6:15 pm<strong>

"We should go on foot from here," Neva said, bringing her motorcycle close to the compound. The 'Park' looked deserted but not abandoned - a few lights were still on here and there and some trashcans could be seen freshly filled.

Dacian brought his bike to a stop as well but frowned as he took off his helmet, squinting against the descending sun. "How do you know Kit's father is in there?"

Neva took off her helmet and looked over her shoulder at Dacian. "I can sense the aura..."

"Cool, secondary power," he said, turning off the engine.

"Huh?"

"Secondary power. I have one – well mine's just kinda cheating anyway..." He patted down his leather jacket.

Neva raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, stop. You show up – not that I mind or anything, it's good to have a familiar face I can trust to take this insanity in stride – your childhood weirdness turns out to be psychic powers and you acting like you know sort of know what's going on,"

"I do," Neva stared at him. "I can see the past, Neva, when I touch things." he explained, smiling in amusement at her expression. "You know at the bookstore?"

"Is that why you were randomly picking up books?"

"Yeah. A lot goes down in that bookstore so I sort of know what's going on. These mystic knights are called Kamen Riders, right? They're not exactly the first paranormal hunting warriors I've heard of,"

"Wait, they're not?"

Dacian checked over his pockets before answering, drawing a Glock 17C from a hostler in his jacket and making sure it was loaded. "You want one?"

Neva didn't seem surprised that he was armed. "You're a better shot than I am. I don't want to hit Kit's father,"

"Fair enough. Lead the way then,"

Neva nodded, pointing towards a likely looking building and heading towards it. "So...not the first paranormal slaying warriors?"

"Nope." They paused a moment to scout around the doors and ensure themselves that there were no nasty surprises lurking in wait for them as they set into the dark corridors of deserted facility. "Remind me again … how long has your family lived in California?"

"You should know - yours seemed to follow us around." Neva chuckled.

"We don't!"

"Three years. We actually managed to get a nice house and everything."

"So you wouldn't have heard of Power Rangers,"

"Excuse me?"

"Not even the army can get decent intell on them - it's rather sad really. But the CIA may have something - not that they share. I'll regale you with the stories later. But I gotta tell you – having retrocognition is _very _useful."

"Not right now it isn't." Neva paused. "Wait, can't you see if someone's been here recently?"

Dacian frowned and shook his head. "I try but...there's too much weird energy,"

"Weird energy?"

"I can see things within twenty-fours hours without needing to touch something specific that's been handled by a person. What?" he said in response to Neva's look. "It's _psychometric_retrocognition. Unfortunately, I'm not all-seeing. But this energy - it's like energy that was in Chris's motel room. I can't see through it - I have to be in contact with something,"

"So you can't just look at an area and see what's happened there," she sighed.

"No - I have to touch something that's been in the area for awhile. I can only see as far as the objects been there. Especially with this energy around,"

Neva grumbled. "Old fashioned way then," Neva waved him over to the factory door and peered inside, opening her eyes wide. Flickers of light appeared at the corners of her vision – they had been bothering her all day long but now they actually came in handy. "Detective Grimes, my foot," she said. "I know this aura,"

"Is it someone friendly?" Dacian asked hopefully.

"He tried to seduce me," Neva said simply, leading the way into the factory.

There was a pause and Dacian's voice turned grim. "Permission to shoot first, captain?"

"Permission granted."

* * *

><p><strong>Rosedale Industrial Park<strong>

"This place is kinda creepy," Dacian muttered, gun at the ready.

"Says the Marine Esper," Neva said.

"Ha, ha." Dacian poked her in the back with the butt of his extra Glock. "Just take it - it'll make me feel better,"

"Fine," Neva said, taking it and the extra magazine as her senses prickled and a distinct grating shriek of the mirror portal sounded. "Company!"

A gun shot rang out, startling Neva as a swarm of mirror monsters suddenly surrounded them, separating them and grasping at Dacian's arms and legs.

"Das!"

The marine twisted, swinging fists and elbows firing off into abdomens and legs to avoid shooting Neva by accident. "Shoot low!" he yelled.

Neva could barely move in the sudden swarm of newt monsters, jostled like a toy in an overflowing toybox. "Just go!" he yelled over the noise and started shooting, again the shoots echoing.

Neva twisted and managed to shoot a few monsters down. "Not without you. It's what they want - to split us up!" _I won't let them_. "They need to learn better - they can't have what they want!"

_~Push them away with your mind! Are you an Esper or aren't you?~_

Neva felt relief wash over her, hearing her brother's voice in her mind again.

_Oh, _**there **_you are. I was kinda wondering why you were so quiet._

Another gun shot rang out as Neva ducked, tearing her limbs out of the hold of the newt monster. _Keep them away, keep them away, keep them away..._

She could hear monsters starting to fly as Dacian finally got some room to maneuver and another hum of mirror portals filled her hearing. She concentrated, remembering her martial arts lessons, he calming lessons, pulling all of her rage and emotion into a ball - Spirit-Chris helped.

She fire her gun at a newt crowding closer to her and focused through the bullet. The bullet struck it in the head making the monster drop to the ground and Neva bounced to her feet, stretching out her arms. It felt like pushing water, unleashing a torrent of water and her head swam her vision blurred as a surge of energy just rushed through her bones and rippled out of her body like she was a stone that had fallen into a pond.

There was a distinct crash as the monster burst into smoke particles and a clash of metal and more gun shots as Dacian suddenly scooped her up with his arm around her waist, firing shoots down the corridor.

They stopped running when there were no monsters chasing them to catch their breath. "Okay, definitely a trap," Dacian said and Neva rolled her eyes. "Let's keep going and keep our eyes peeled, okay?"

Neva nodded. "Maybe this is a good time for me to go stealth mode," Dacian muttered.

"Stealth mode?"

"Keep an eye on my aura," he said as he abruptly wasn't there anymore. But she could tell he was still there because colors flickered in his shape where he had been standing.

"Invisibility?"

"Stealth," he corrected, except she couldn't hear him so he had drop it. "Stealth. You can't see me, you can't hear me and neither can cameras. But unfortunately, other psychics can sense me," he shrugged. "Keep going, I'll be behind you,"

"Why do _you _get the cool powers?" she muttered as he went stealth again and the pair made their way unharassed through the corridors.

* * *

><p><em>:Strike, we've lost sight of the marine,: <em>Danny didn't sound pleased and James frowned, pacing in front of the unmoving form of Kit's father, sitting listlessly in the wheelchair.

"How could you lose sight of him?"

_:We set the mirror monsters on them just like you said but they ran and then the Marine disappeared. The girl is still heading towards you though,:_

James growled. "Let her come. You and Albert get back here. And drop the lights. If they're still in here together I don't want them to see a thing,"

* * *

><p>Len's motorcycle and Maya's small blue car stopped in front of Rosedale Industrial Park and Maya and Kit got out, slamming the doors shut. "We're lucky it's closed right now..." Maya muttered, glancing up at the silent structure.<p>

"Stay behind us," Kit advised as Len led the way into the building, face grim.. They'd only gone a few feet inside when an omnious clang signaled a closed door and what lit artificial lighting there was cut off.

Maya reached for someone's arm in the dark and found one clinging to it. "Len? Kit?"

"That's my arm," his voice sounded dry and Maya jumped slightly as another hand wrapped around her forearm.

"I"m here," Kit said. "Power failure?" he tried to joke but it came out flat

"Stay close," Len advised. "I don't like this one bit."

* * *

><p><em>... :P Okay, so we didn't get to the action in this chapter but it was arguing with me! The action should pick up next chapter. Hope you enjoyed.<em>


	15. Ultimatum

**Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance.**

_Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for her usual review. I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Laziness struck - sort of - I was also working on my CampNaNoWriMo story which has reached 15000+ words, even though some of those words are whited out, they still count and I'm still behind schedule. But I figured if I leave this too long, it won't get out by Tuesday (today) so here I am._

**_Posted: June 12, 2012_**

_Private Thoughts, "Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, _**"Vent Announcement."**

_(Yes I changed the title again. It seemed more fitting. I decided the english meaning of 'Clepsydra' would better describe the story. After all the entire plot takes place in the course of one day, though I usually don't write like that.)_

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><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Water Clock - Chapter 15 – Ultimatum**

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><p><em>Interior - Rosedale Industrial Park, Los Angeles, Earth<em>

As soon as the lights went out, Neva stopped moving and tried to sense Dacian with her aura-reading. Something in her mind buzzed as the power slipped through mental fingers and she frowned. "Dacian?" she asked, hoping he could hear her even if his power didn't work the other way around.

Silence greeted her question. "Das? Are you there?" When more silence was her only answer, she swore inwardly, tightening her finger on her gun. _Dacian will be fine. Kit's father won't be._

Deciding to move forward and hoping she wouldn't regret it, Neva cautiously felt her way through the darkness.

* * *

><p>Dacian wanted to scream, to call out her name to do <em>something <em>but he_ couldn't. _As soon as the lights went down, something hard and solid came down in front of him and smacked into it painfully. "Ow! Damn, what..." he reached out feeling the barrier - something smooth. And then he felt a hand grab his wrist - not Neva's hand because Neva's hand didn't feel like slime-coated armor.

_Clusterfuck._

He fired, the gun went off, something shattered and then next thing he knew he was literally fighting blind, eyes closed so he wouldn't try to see, hitting anything that got in the way of his punches and kicks, not even using his gun for fear of killing someone important.

* * *

><p>The trio blinked as a light suddenly came on, banishing the darkness, a bright path of light lighting up the space.<p>

"I have a mini-flashlight," Maya explained. "For my car when it's dark,"

"Perfect!" Kit went digging into his pockets. "Where's my mirror...? Ah ha!" He held it up triumphantly and put it back in his pocket.

"Kit...?"

"We can't use the advent decks on Earth unless we have a mirror on hand," Len explained as Kit stepped forward, holding out his advent deck. Len did the same, the red and blue lightning forming their advent belts around their waists and they both called out "Kamen Rider!"

Spheres of energy and interesecting of light – red for Kit and blue Len - appeared around them, rattling the walls of the narrow corridor as their body armor appeared around them.

**"Beast vent*," **Dragredder appeared, hovering by Dragon Knight. "Just in case," Dragon Knight said before slotting his sword card.

"**Sword vent,"**

"**Sword vent,"**

**"Beast vent," **Blackwing appeared, drifting above them lazyily, decreasing his size so he could fit in the narrow corridor.

"I'm going to check out that advent siren," Wing Knight said, hefting his Wing Lancer. "You two find Neva,"

"Alright," Dragon Knight agreed. "Stay close to Dragredder," he directed Maya and she nodded, shuffling closer to the dragon. He gave her a brief sniff and seemed to deem her 'not a threat'. "Okay, boy which way?"

Dragredder growled something that his master seemed to understand because Dragon Knight grabbed Maya by the hand and ran down a corridor towards a turn.

Wing Knight took a different hall.

* * *

><p>Neva blinked when the lights came up, startling her. She had to blink a few times and when she realized she could see and she was in a dingy room with three mirrors at the end of it and unused fuse boxes she turned around looking for her brother-in-arms. "Das? Dacian? Come on, if you're there come out,"<p>

_~Das is fine.~ _Spirit-Chris scolded_. ~*Look at twelve!~_

"He's not,"

She whirled back around, aiming her gun at James Trademore as he stepped out of the mirror, pushing a wheelchair. "Kit's father," she breathed. She recognized him from the pictures in Kit's apartment.

"That's right. I knew you'd come for your boyfriend's father." he just gave her a mocking smirk as she growled. "Don't you think you're moving a little fast?" He didn't seem very concerned about her gun though his smile dropped. A GLOCK 17C – one of her, Chris and Dacian's favorite brands – it had a good 17 rounds of fire, not the standard six.

"Shut yer hole 'fore I deep six you," she snapped, cocking the gun and lapsing back into the military lingo she was so use to.

"Can't otherwise you won't hear my offer. Give me Sting's advent deck and I'll give you Kit's father."

She wanted to check that the advent deck was still in the leather jacket Dacian had given her but she didn't want to draw attention. Instead, she shifted her weight, feeling the weight and the advent energy coming off the deck.

"Why do you want it?"

"That's not really important. But you don't have much of a choice either,"

Danny and Albert stepped out of the mirrors, looking smug. "Solider boy's taken care of,"

"You wish," Neva snapped

"Doesn't matter." Neva really wanted to smack James' because his smug, confident look was really annoying her. "Because by the time any of yours Knights get here you'll be vented,"

"Of course, we don't know if you'll actually be vented..." Danny said shrugged as the three of them held their advent decks out.

_Clusterfuck! Fubar, shit, shit, shit, shit..._

* * *

><p>The lights came up suddenly, brighter than before but Dacian's eyes were closed so he wasn't blinded by the sudden light though he tell it was on. He was still swinging and hitting anything that came in range, dealing out snapkicks and knee strikes, elbow jabs and gunshots into things he was pretty sure wasn't human. He cracked his eyes open cautiously as the onslaught suddenly stopped.<p>

He was in a room, a narrow room of two mirror walls. It was a little disorienting but more importantly he was alone except for a few dead bodies of new monsters that were half fading.

On instinct he turned and fired at the mirror behind him dead center, shattering the glass and revealing the corridor he and Neva had been traveling along before the lights went down. The lights dimmed and Dacian looked up, wishing he had brought a flashlight. But it didn't go pitch-black as before so he started forward before he heard a noise behind him and whirled around, aiming at the large mechanical bat that had emerged from the mirror, closely followed by a man in armor.

"What's your name solider?" he asked harshly, pointed his sword at him, which Dacian thought was a little oversized.

"Who wants to know?"

"Kamen Rider Wing Knight. Name?"

"Dacian Marcelli,"

"What's your honor?"

"What?" Dacian said in confusion before it dawned on him. "_Semper Fidelis_,"

"Who are you looking for?"

Dacian relaxed a bit, studying Wing Knight carefully. He had the same confident walk that Len had exuded in his retrovisions in the shop. "Neva Ramirez,"

"Good." said Wing Knight. "You must be Chris's friend. Blackwing, dismissed," Dacian looked on in confusion as the mechanical bat seemed to nod and disappeared into the advent void.

"Shoot that," Wing Knight jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the mirror, making his way down the corridor and Dacian complied, aiming carefully so the whole mirror shattered.

"Let's go before Neva gets herself vented,"

"Venting's the equivalent of death for you guys right?"

"Maybe for us. But Neva doesn't have advent armor like Riders do," Wing Knight said, taking off at a jog and Dacian felt his blood run cold as he ran over him.

_Neva, what have you gotten into?_

A muffled explosion and an aqua light at the far end of the corridor had them picking up their pace.

* * *

><p>Dragon Knight took off running when a explosion of aqua and magenta light lit up the corridor and Maya grabbed onto Dragredder as he sped after a now-running Dragon Knight.<p>

She found that although the metal scales were uncomfortable to sit one, the mechanical dragon was big enough to ride and he didn't seem to mind either.

* * *

><p>James dropped his advent deck and ducked as she fired at him, the bullet missing by a mile and shattering the mirror directly behind him but Neva had already dropped to the ground and fired at Albert's knee just before the protective transformation sphere appeared around him and he went down with a bullet in his knee, screaming as she turned her gun on a now-transformed Danny and aimed for the floor. Magenta light surged, shifting to an aqua color as the floor exploded.<p>

She panic, realizing that Kit's father – Frank, she corrected herself – was too close to the blast but a spherical shield around him seem to deflected the blast without helping James and sent the Terran flying back into the wall as Axe went flying into the right-most mirror.

A short burst of energy pushed Frank's chair toward Neva and she put the catatonic man behind her.

"Albert, how you are holding up?" James asked and his response was a series of pained curses.

Axe reappeared, stepping out of the mirror behind Albert, making concerned, angry inquires. He shot a glare at Neva before pulling Albert through the mirror as three Sheerghosts emerged from the right-side mirror.

"You think you can take on Kamen Riders little girl?"

"Were you trained in the Marines, cosplay boy?" she mocked, standing in front of Frank protectively. James waved the Sheerghosts back and held up his advent deck just as an explosion of fire blew in the right-most door and Dragon Knight leapt into the room, close trailed by Dragredder and Maya.

Maya's eyes widened in shock as she jumped off Dragredder's back.

"James!"

A cruel smile twisted on his face; three more Sheerghosts emerged from the left-side mirror as Wing Knight and Dacian came out of the corridor Neva had emerged from.

"Maya,"James said, dipping his head in mock respect.

"You vented Chris? You're Kamen Rider Strike?" Without waiting for a verbal answer, for it was obvious she plowed on. "I trusted you! You lied to me! You tried to kidnap Neva!"

He shrugged. "I just needed to know what your Kamen Riders pals were up to. And Neva's too just special to let her join you guys,"

"Why am I not flattered?" Neva muttered.

"Can I shoot him?" Dacian growled. Wing Knight put his sword in front of the Marine staying his movements.

"Why did you do this? !" Maya screamed lunging forward, and Dragon Knight had to hold her back. "You always said you were interested in truth not power!"

"I am. Let's be honest - did you really think I was think I was that impressed with your journalistic integrity?" James jumped as a bullet ricocheted against the back wall, cutting off the rest of his hurtful speech.

"Please keep talking," Neva bit out. "Because I promised Dacian he could take the first shot,"

"Stay out of this," Wing Knight ordered, stepping forward.

"How well did keeping me out of the fight work last time?" Neva snapped as Dacian nodded in agreement.

"Maya," Dragon Knight whispered, pulling her back. "Take my father and get out of here." He nodded to the wall between to the doors where Frank was sitting, staring listlessly into space. "We'll handle this. Dragredder will cover you,"

Maya took a breath and nodded, hurrying over to Kit's father and pushing him out of the room; James followed her with his eyes but did not seem interested in stopping her escape.

"Let's make a deal, Taylor. Wing Knight's advent deck - Maya and your father get to leave without being attacked again,"

"And what about Neva?" Wing Knight challenged, drawing stares from the others.

"No deal - Xaviax's orders - she has to die."

"You won't touch anyone," Neva snapped. "Deal with it,"

"Go to hell," Dragon Knight snapped. "You won't touch anyone, traitor,"

James laughed. "Traitor to who?"

"Your world!" Dacian shouted as Wing Knight lowered his sword, allowing Dacian to shoot properly again and leveled his Wing Lancer in preparation for combat.

"Take care of the monsters," Wing Knight ordered Neva and Dacian.

Axe stepped out of the mirror, fully armored and James held his advent deck in front of him, allowing the advent belt to appeared before calling out; "Kamen Rider!"

The sheerghosts surged forward, grabbing Neva around her arms but they were blasted backwards by a surge of energy rippling outward. Dacian quickly rushed to Neva's side, bringing his elbow hard on an offending monster and shooting it in the head.

Wing Knight intercepted a fully-armored Strike and Dragon Knight skidded under the arm of a sheerghost kicking one into Axe, bringing his sword around in a clumsy slash. Axe pushed the offending sheerghost out of the way and caught the Drag Saber on his claws.

Sparks flew as blades struck out against metal. There were no words wasted between them, just harsh breaths and growls.

Neva fired off two shoots quickly finding that bullets did not affect advent armor and resorted to whipping out her ever-present combat knife, countering his strike on her shorter blade. A sheerghost tackled Wing Knight from the side as another got Dacian, allowing Strike to jump over Wing Knight, going straight for Neva.

She cried out as his staff struck her gunhand hard forcing her to let go of it and sending the weapon skidding across the floor.

"You don't stand a chance, no matter how much training you have." she blocked his strike with her shorter blade, just barely holding him back and finding that her telekinesis wouldn't _wrap around him_.

_Fucking perfect._

"You'd be surprised..." the ground cracked underneath her feet and surged forward, erupting under Strike and sending him stumbling backwards. Her foot struck out sending his sword skittering out of his hand and a quick attack disarmed him of his Cobra Staff which dissipated into clear smoke.

The advent deck shimmered brightly in her pocket, giving off a bright magenta and aqua light as a flicker of movement in the mirror caught her eye. Axe shoved pass Dragon Knight, his tiger claw weapons aiming right for her throat. She ducked under him, then bounced to her feet, her knee coming up high and slamming into his chin sending him stumbling backwards with the force of the blow. Dacian quickly delivered a stunning roundhouse kick to Axe's legs and found herself being cornered by a sheerghost, swinging hooks at her head and forcing her to go on the defense, using shield blocks.

The gun went off somewhere behind her and the Sheerghost she was fighting collasped; Dacian skidded beside her, passing her the gun she had dropped earlier.

~_Neva, Dacian above you!~_

"Chris?" Dacian muttered, looking around and up. Two newt monsters dumped a dulge of water onto the Marines. Light glinted through it and Neva protested as she felt arms seize her own, pushing her and Dacian into the water.

Their surroundings quickly faded, consumed by a silver light; Dacian's hand slipped against hers, the water making it nearly impossible to keep hold as Dragon and Wing Knight's shouts resounded in their ears.

* * *

><p>Dragon Knight jumped forward but Axe got in his way as the last of the water fell and was quickly absorbed by the newt monsters.<p>

"Neva!"

**"Attack vent," **Wing Knight ducked a spew of acid from Venosnaker as the giant cobra emerged from the mirror void.

**"Attack vent,"**

**"Guard vent,"** Dragon Knight deflected Destwilder's vicious slashing claws behind his shield and retreated.

"Make sure they don't come back this way," Strike ordered the remaining sheerghosts, sending them off. Axe pulled down the other mirror shattering it. He stepped through the other mirror and Strike pulled it down over himself.

After a moment, once the advent beasts had followed their Riders into the mirror void, Wing Knight and Dragon Knight stood up surveying the damaged. Leather creaked as the red-armored Rider clenched his fist.

"Damnit!"

"Kit - "

Dragon Knight whirled away, running down the corridor as alarms started to blare loudly. "We have to make sure Maya and my dad made it out!"

* * *

><p>Maya glanced around nervously as she emerged from the factory and hurried towards her parked car. She paused then looked helplessly between her car and Frank, sitting motionlessly in his chair. Dragredder flickered within the reflection of her car and emerged, looking curious.<p>

"I don't suppose you could help?" she asked the dragon and he seemed to understand her because he shook his head.

Maya opened the car door and screamed as two newt monsters emerged from the back window, wielding large blades. Almost immediately a fireball incinarated them. Maya's hand dove into her back as another newt monster jumped out and before Dragredder could do anything, it was twitching on the ground before vanishing into clear smoke.

"I knew getting a taser was a good idea," Maya smiled. "Dragredder, keep an eye for monsters okay?" the dragon nodded and Maya turned her attention back to the problem of getting Frank into the car.

By the time Kit and Len emerged from the factory, she had successfully gotten the comatose man settled, balancing her own weight and edging him into the car. Then she folded the wheelchair and tucked in on the other side.

"Good job, Dragredder," Dragon Knight said approaching the car.

"You're okay!" Maya turned to face with a smile but it dropped off when she noticed they were alone. "Where's Neva and Dacian?"

But their grim expressions once they dematerialized the armor and Dragredder vanished into the mirror void told her everything she needed to know.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Look at twelve!* - six is your back, so twelve would be the front.<em>**

**_*Beast vent - a card used when they just want to call the monster. When this card is used they can just order an attack if needed rather than slotting the card._**

**_Mirror void isn't the same thing as the advent void - the mirror void is the spaces between mirror bridges in which non-Advent users find themselves if lost in transit._**

**_Advent beasts can't stay out side of the mirror void unless their master is in Rider mode._**


	16. Defiance

**Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance.**

_Private Thoughts, "Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, _**"Vent Announcement."**

**My apologies - I guess I'm posting every OTHER Tuesday. I apologize for the wait - we had a crisis of lack of power due an outage and we just got it back Monday. I finished this yesterday but then I wanted to edit it a bit and make it longer. :) And now I'm worrying too much about this so up it goes!**

**Thank you Kamen Rider Lynx for the review and undersizeskate for favoriting this story. Please enjoy.**

**Posted: July 5th, 2012**

**Edited: July 6th, 2012**

**Hope you had a Happy Independence Day!**

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><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Water Clock **–** Chapter 16 – Defiance**

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><p><em>7: 21 pm PDT - Streets of Los Angeles<em>

Maya had never felt such a chilling silence. Kit was staring out of the car window, turning his advent deck over in his hands as he mumbled under his breath. She could see Dragredder in the window so they must be talking.

_I failed Chris...I failed Neva._

_:It isn't over yet,:_

Maya jumped slightly at the sound of Len's voice; luckily they were at a stoplight and Len was on his motorcycle on Maya's side of the car.

"How? Xaviax got Neva _and_ Dacian - Dragredder says he's an Esper too,"

Maya blinked. "How likely is it that both Chris's friend _and _his sister are Espers?"

_:I was thinking that too,: _Len agreed.

"But how do we _save_ them?" Kit demanded. "Or are we already too late?"

_:We don't,: _said Len chillingly.

"WHAT? !"

Maya reached over to pat Kit on the shoulder as the light turned green and she expertly steered the car with one hand.

_:The advent beasts seem to know more about it that we do,: _Len explained._ :This time, Neva's on her own. Trust her.:_

"I do!" Kit protested."I just -" he slumped in his seat, eyes shadowed. "I just don't want to lose someone else to this war,"

Len sighed heavily. :_The Advent Master originally wanted to recruit six more advent warriors - he called them Advent Guardians. But in order to use their powers, they had to be psychics. And no one on Ventarra had the mental strength needed to become Espers. So, he had to set that plan aside.:_

Kit flapped his arms a little. "But they're here now!"

:_If they don't survive Xaviax now, they won't be much use to our cause, now will they?:_

"Len! They're our friends. Well, allies, in Dacian's case but how can you be so cold? !"

:_You do think I like this anymore than you do? !: _Len snapped. :_But Blackwing doesn't sense them - does Dragredder?:_

Kit grumbled. "No,"

:_If they're strong enough, they'll escape,:_ Len promised.

Kit clenched his fists. "That's how Chris was vented,"

_:He was vented because he was defending me,_: Len said sternly. _:He had - has - a strong heart but his body couldn't keep up. Neva and Dacian don't have that problem,:_

"Speaking of," said Maya hesitantly, breaking into the tense conversation between the two Riders. "What about Frank? And Lacey and Trent,"

_:Can you fit two more?: _Len asked.

"I think so..."

"My bike's at the shop," Kit reminded them. "Lacey or Trent can have shotgun,"

_:We'll stay at Kit's place tonight. All of us.:_

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile - The Mirror Void<strong>

Neva awoke slowly and moaned at the blue light, squinting her eyes shut.

"For a moment there, I thought the shock had killed you," Neva's eyes snapped open and she shot up, scrambling away from the voice. The speed of her sudden movements made her dizzy and the man who was speaking to her laughed, standing up.

"You humans are so delicate after all,"

"Xaviax," she breathed. She was somewhat surprised. She had been expecting an alien – he looked human enough – pale skin, dark brown hair neatly combed back, high-collar black jacket worn with dark pants and shoes. Her eyes flickered; Dacian was on the floor where she had been, his gun held loosely in his hand, unconscious.

But what slightly more surprising was the area she found herself in - it looked blocks of crystals floating around, making up an endless void of reflective yet not-reflective crystalline blocks.

"Where...?"

"The mirror void." Xaviax explained. "Truly an honor to meet you in person at last, Miss Ramirez."

"Strike said you wanted me dead!"

Xaviax waved a dismissive hand. "I was contemplating it," he admitted. "But I have a much better use for you – after all you have talents that other humans don't have,"

"Why did you send James to my house?"

"A plan that fell through," he confessed. "An excellent plan but things just didn't work out as expected since your friend was a surprise player,"

Neva took several steps backwards as he came closer and tried to move him back with her mind. Barely a flicker of power emerged – not even a whisper from the advent deck. Frantically she checked her pockets.

"Looking for this?" Xaviax held up the Sting advent deck mockingly. "Oh and don't worry about your friend. He's fine. Just asleep,"

Neva repressed a growl, carefully sorting her mind. She'd have to use her powers without use of the advent deck - it was a crutch anyway. "Whatever deal you have, forget it. I don't make deals with terrorists!"

"Terrorists?" Xaviax laughed. "Dear girl, I am not here simply to _terrorize_. If I was, I'd make my presence widely known,"

"You could be using the shadows to hide what people fear," Neva challenged.

"True but I'm not here to _terrorize_. I'm here to _conquer,"_

"Yeah and you see why I'd have a problem with that."

"But you can't really do anything, can you? You and your friend here are trapped. Without this advent deck, you can't pass through the mirrors. In fact, it's a miracle you can use even a _fraction _of its power. Without this, you can't use your own powers. Face facts, Miss Ramirez. Your world is doomed, your people are weak – your family serves a corrupt establishment – "

"Why do you need us to rebuild your planet? Is your own people to incompetent to do the job?"

"The people on my world are gone,"

Neva smiled, sensing an underlying story beyond what Kit had been able to tell. "And how did that happen exactly?"

Xaviax's gaze grew cold. "You're beginning to annoy me..."

"I've been annoying since my brother was vented!" Xaviax's expression became strained but then a thin smile appeared on his face and he stepped forward, bending his knees so he knelt closer to the floor - and Dacian.

"Stay away from him!" she commanded and the advent deck in Xaviax's hand flashed magenta. The alien warlord's eyes widened and he lurched back with a hiss of pain, smoke rising from his hand as the advent deck clattered to the ground next to Dacian.

**:Want some help?:**

Neva blinked in surprise as the advent deck flashed again and a magenta blur slammed into Xaviax from the side, sending him tumbling away.

A magenta stingray circled over Dacian, magenta light spilling off the wing-flippers as the form of the stingray shifted, growing in size until it resembled a giant _manta_ray.

**:Hello: **the Mantaray said, seeming amused by Neva's huge eyes of astounded shock. **:I'm Evildiver:**

"Chris's advent beast..."

"Ah, I see you even have the protection of the advent beasts," Xaviax pushed himself to his feet as Dacian began to groan his eyes flickering.

"What..." he looked up, jumping at the sight of the mantaray above him and Neva hurried over to drag him to his feet, grabbing the Sting advent deck as she went.

"It's okay, it's - he?... Evildiver's on our side." Neva assured him.

Xaviax's form rippled, displacing air revealing a silver-onyx alien with red eyes in his place and Dacian swore again. "I believe you are making a grave mistake," Xaviax said lowly.

"If you don't want to kill us, what _do_ you want?" Neva asked.

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed that Frank Taylor isn't really _awake,"_

Without further warning, the lavender body of Venosnaker erupted from the ground, directly behind Neva. She shrieked as thick coils wrapped around her body with eye-blurring speed, knocking Dacian aside. The lavender cobra bit down hard on Evildiver's wing-fin sending the mantaray crashing to the ground in pain and immediately a squadron of Sheerghosts appeared to pin down the advent beast.

"Neva!" Dacian scrambled back to his feet and was immediately attacked from behind and pinned to the ground. Then he was dragged back up to his knees; Xaviax, looking on made a gesture and cold glass enclosed around his legs as glass shackles appeared around his wrists, forcing him to drop his gun on the clear floor that stared down into the disconnecting depths of the mirror void.

Neva let out a wheezing gasp as Venosnaker's coils tightened around her. "Loosen up," Xaviax ordered the beast, changing back to his human form.

It did so, much Neva and Dacian's relief; Neva let out gasp, trying to refill her lungs with air. Then she paused, studying Venosnaker. The scales weren't made of metal – this snake was a lighter shade of purple and had the same composition as the mirror monsters. Evildiver struggled but the corroding posion of Venofake had weakened him and it didn't help that mirror monster copies of Destwilder and Gigazelle had replaced the original Sheerghosts holding him down.

Xaviax smiled disarmingly at the, folding his hands behind his back as he slowly approached the trapped Espers. Dacian's crystal prison shifted, forcing him to stand and moved him closer to Neva.

"As I am sure you are aware," Xaviax began in a slow lazy tone. "You have some very unique abilities." Neva cringed back as he stopped very close to her; Dacian let out a warning growl. "And since both of you have such steadfast loyalty to Wing Knight and Dragon Knight..." he smiled, looking between Dacian and Neva. "Clearly, manipulation won't work with you two. However, Olivia...may be yet persuaded,"

Neva and Dacian stared silently in confusion then horror dawned. "Oh yes...birds of a feather flock together, as they say. You two aren't the only Espers in Los Angeles,"

"Olivia isn't stupid," Neva snapped.

"Maybe not. But I can do more than take your power – I can take over the bodies you leave behind," Xaviax hissed, stretching his hands towards them. Neva snapped at him with her teeth but he pressed his hands to their foreheads and specks of blue energy appeared at his fingers, clashing with the aqua from Neva and the gold from Dacian, that struggle to counteract the intrusion.

"She may be smart but I doubt she'd do anything for her best friend,"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Mirror Void<em>**

Somewhere within the maze of glass and crystal, within the endless tunnels, a long blue-green serpent paused in its swim, eyes rotating as a pain cry rang out in its mind and a faint image of a mantaray appeared.

A trilling bird's cry rang out in the mirror void and a shadow of a griffin passed over head.

The blue sea serpent growled deep in its throat. :**Unacceptable:**

* * *

><p>Xaviax frowned as their psychic energy twisted and coiled back into their hosts, refusing to come out and both of them were glaring in defiance rather than passing out like their fellow humans. Everything else about the Espers had been unpredictable – why would this be any easier?<p>

His thoughts were cut off by a shriek as Pseudo-Venosnaker recoiled, lashing it's head back in pain.

"What are you doing?" Xaiviax snapped at his creation. "Hold her!" The snake shrieked again and suddenly Xaiviax could see why – there was a mechanical _shark_ biting down into it's neck from behind. And more importantly – the shadowy figure of Chris Ramirez was standing it behind it, his form rippling and occasionally being replaced by a Kamen Rider in blue shark-themed armor.

Xaiviax's eyes widened in horror as an eruption of energy behind him shattered glass and Neva forced her head down, wriggling her arms out of Pseudo-Venosnaker's crushing hold.

"For Chris!" Magenta energy exploded, quickly turning to aqua as it blew Xaviax backwards, sending him crashing onto his back just in time to see Pseudo-Destwilder and Pseudo-Gigazelle plummet from the air of the Mirror Void room to their deaths and Evildiver swooped down towards the offending arriving sheerghosts and dragoons as the crystal blocks shivered.

A great lion-eagle of golden metal emphasized along the wings and armored skull and chest with gold suddenly appeared with a terrifying shriek, sending the dragoons into a panic as its four talons shredded several in midflight.

Dacian's bonds shattered and he sighed in relief. He stood, shaking the remains of crystal shackles off of his wrists as the crystal ground rippled. Pseudo-Venosnaker shrieked a final time before the mechanical shark dragged it into the depths of the mirror void and it began disintegrating in shadowy particles of glass.

_You okay guys?~ _Dacian's head jerk up in surprise as he felt a hand on his shoulder and look up into Chris's shadowy face. His face rippled briefly, replaced by shark-themed blue armor before he was Chris again.

"No way..."

"We're fine," Neva said shortly. "But you're still trapped in the advent void, aren't you Chris?"

He nodded as the sting advent deck appeared at her feet and Evildiver kept bulldozing mirror monsters.

_~But you can do this,~_

Xaviax shot to his feet, eyes blazing in anger as air displaced around him, revealing his alien form of silver-onyx hard armor skin. Dacian snatched his gun from the ground and readied it as Xaviax threw a pulsating blue beam of energy at them. Neva raised her hand – and nearly collapsed as a roar shook the advent void and she was thrown back onto the floor as something longer and bigger than either Dragredder or Venosnaker erupted from the crystal ground in front of her.

"Holy _shit,"_ Dacian breathed.

A head taller than Venosnaker and topped by a skull protected by a massive carapace that jutted over its head structure like a crown, a long serpentine body of blue and green metal plates trimmed in silver appeared. Four tentacles tipped with spear-like fins emerged from four sockets - two located several feet below the head and the second set located further down near the two pairs of dorsal fins. One set of dorsal fins was smaller than the other. Two large mantis-like protrusions from the front seemed to act as 'hands' of sorts and half of its body was still partly-submerged in the mirror sea as the great beast's roar rang through the mirror void. All four tentacles descended on the offending mirror monsters, crushing them out of existence.

A shrill reptilian shriek rang out again as it deflected a blast of energy from Xaviax with a sweep of its tentacles and effortlessly thwacked Xaviax across the room.

"A leviathan," Neva breathed, eyes huge. The beast turned its head to look at them, fixating Neva with large golden eyes. The griffin swooped towards them and Dacian jumped as Neva shrieked in surprise, the ground dropping from beneath her. Before he could move a muscle, he too dropped into the mirror void.

* * *

><p><strong>8:15 pm - Kit's Apartment<strong>

The two Kamen Riders refuse to explain anything to Trent and Lacey until they arrived at Kit's place. While Kit bustled around like a housewife, laying out mattress pad and sleeping bags for their impromptu guests and ran down to the local clothing shop to buy a change of clothes for Maya, Lacey and Trent (Maya went with him) Len explained what had occurred.

Lacey listened quietly, having volunteered to feed Frank Taylor and they discovered that he could still eat, though most of his higher brain functions seemed to be lost to him. They had decided to let the illusion of Frank at the hospital continue to stand-in for a bit and take him back to Kit's place for a short time.

"JTC is Strike? !" Trent's eyes went wide in horror, his fork of steak halfway to his mouth.

"Hang on," Lacey said, feeding Frank another bite of mashed potatoes which he swallowed. "JTC is that guy who had information on the Kamen Riders right?"

"Yes," Len said. "Maya told me that he said he got them from the FBI,"

"Does the FBI even know about this?" Trent questioned.

"As long as they stay out of the way, I don't really care," Len said dismissively as the door opened again, allowing Kit and Maya to bang into the apartment.

"I don't understand," Trent stuttered. "Why he doing this?"

"It doesn't matter why," Maya said, her voice filled with rage as she dropped the fruits of their labor onto the floor behind the door. "He's on Xaviax's side which means he's the bad guy,"

"And we have to stop him," Len said firmly.

"But _how_?" Kit asked, his voice cracking.

"But what are we - you - " Lacey corrected. "Going to do about Dacian and Neva? They seem really important!"

"That's just it!" Kit threw his hands up. "Xaviax has Dacian and Neva and he'll _vent_ them," Kit explained, trying to keep his voice level. "Or worse,"

"What's worse?" Lacey whispered. "Actual death?"

"Energy sapping," Len said tonelessly.

Trent and Lacey failed to grasp the horror of this and just stared blankly. "What?"

Len nodded at Frank. "They're Espers. He's not going to vent them. He'll drain them. Like Kit's father,"

Kit let out a moan and crossed the room, sinking into the cushions of the green couch. Maya followed, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "This is a disaster,"

"Wait!" Lacey cried, throwing her arm up. "There's was another piece of paper with Neva's letter!"

"Excuse me?" said Len as Lacey dug in her bag for it and shook out the folds.

"Here," she said presenting it to Len. The veteran Rider took it carefully reading it over.

Trent cleared his throat. "Actually...I was thinking. Maya, you've been blogging for five years, right?"

"Right," Maya agreed from her spot on the couch next to Kit.

"The Kamen Riders aren't the _first _vigilante's you've investigated,"

Maya's eyes lit up. "Ohmigosh, you're right!" Maya dove into her bag for her laptop. "I can't believe I forgot about them!" she paused. "Wait, they've been off the scene for three years. They would have shown up by now if they could,"

"What?" Kit said.

"Who's Olivia?" Len interrupted, waving the last bit of Neva's letter.

"Her friend." Lacey explained. "If you read that letter -"

"Isn't illegal to read other people's mail?" Trent quipped, earning a glare from Len and Lacey,

"She's been worried and she said some weird guy stopped by the house," Lacey said, directing this at Kit and Maya. "Neva thinks it was JTC – maybe you should go ask her some questions?"

Len ready to dismiss the suggested but he cocked his head – both he and Kit seem to be listening to something. "I think she's worth visiting," Kit said after a moment.

"But what could she know?" Trent asked.

"We thought it odd that both Chris's sister and his friend were Espers." Len explained, looking over the letter. "What if it's not a coincidence? Maybe they're just...naturally drawn to each other,"

At that moment, the shrieking musical chimes of the advent prompted Kit to thump his head into his hand with a groan. "An alarm...what great timing,"

:_It's Neva's friend,: _Dragredder said, sounding amused and Kit threw his hands up.

"It's Olivia," Kit said to Len, standing up. "She has great timing, doesn't she?"

"Stay put," Len told the non-Riders as he ducked into the mirror closely followed by Kit.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay, a new chapter at last! Sorry about the delay. I've already begun work on Chapter 17, so I predict 4 more chapters (20) before the story is finished. Of course, it just seems to want to keep going and going...and everything in this story seems to beg for a sequel so I will write a sequel! :D I already have plans. But before that I have to finish my Power Rangers: Dino Thunder story Spoils of War, which has been neglected...**

**So, until next time, review!**


	17. Esperic Anomalies

**_Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance._**

_Private Thoughts/Flashbacks__, __"Radio/Cellphone"__, :__Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:__, _**"Vent Announcement."**

_I've been busy but the only reason now why this is late is because this chapter was somewhat argumentative. (though it managed to be the longest yet though that could be the author's note)_

_Thanks to unnamed Guest for reviewing! (Yes - a Leviathan. I really TRIED to think of a different aquatic creature but I wanted a mythical one and it just seemed SOOOO perfect - you'll get a full explanation for that insane beast in this chapter. :)_

_Olivia Butler's likeness is borrowed from Zoe Saladana._

**Posted: June 24th, 2012**

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><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Water Clock – Chapter 17 – The Esperic Anomalies**

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><p><em>Earlier - The Kitchen of the Children's Safehouse<em>

Dylan walked into the kitchen, dripping with milk from his hair and clothes and sighed, going for a nearby towel. Olivia was standing by the cabinet with her cellphone between ear and shoulder as she rummaged through the cabinet.

"Isn't this like...the fifteenth time you've called her since that Masters guy left?"

"She isn't picking up her phone at all,"

"Maybe she forgot to turn it on. Or maybe she can't hear it." Dylan suggested.

Olivia growled in frustration and hung up. "I suppose you didn't find anything on your drive around?"

"No. Want me to look again?"

"Yes. I'm getting a bad feeling about that Masters guy,"

* * *

><p><em>8: 17 pm - Present<em>

"Get off our porch," Dylan folded his arms across his chest, glaring at 'Jack Masters' who had decided to turn up on the porch again. "Neva isn't back yet."

"I know. I wanted to speak to Olivia again." James explained. Why was Dylan being so unfriendly now when he had been the stupid one several hours ago?

There were several children behind Dylan, trying to get a good look at the stranger. "Go back inside," Dylan said to them before returning his attention to James. "She's not here. Good day," Dylan slammed the door in his face and James frowned, stepping back to look at the house as Danny and Albert emerged from one of the windows and came over.

"You okay?" James asked Albert, glancing down at the other man's knee - it looked fine but he _was_ wearing jeans.

"Yeah, Xaviax healed. Made it hurt like a bitch though," Albert rotated the kneecap wincing at the memory of the pain.

"I can't believe she actually _shot _him in the knee," Danny scowled.

It was turn that Kamen Riders were protected from the worse of the battle by the armor - the most injuries they were likely to get was broken bones or bruises. Not bleeding wounds.

"Well, you weren't in the armor. And she trained in a marine academy - she doesn't suffer from the righteous that Wing Nut and Dragon Boy do,"

"What about the last Esper?" Danny asked, gesturing to the house.

James shook his head. "We're not getting into that house the traditional way. I think they figured out my act from before,"

_No more tasteless lies. The way I usually work is much better.__This way; it's sloppy._

* * *

><p><em>Earlier - Attic of the Children's Safehouse<em>

"Where's Neva been all day?"

Olivia was doing a handstand on one of the uneven bars in the attic workout room when the query came; she twisted around on the bar on her hands so she see the speaker standing by the fold up stairs– Saren. The troupe's well-tanned sword dancer had on a tank top and basketball shorts, gathering her hair into a ponytail atop her head as she spoke.

"Out," Olivia said shortly. "The talent scout guy just freaked me out a bit. I mean, when he was here, he was all charisma and now..."

"That he's gone, you're beginning to have doubts," Saren finished.

"Yeah,"

"I'm sure Neva's fine," Saren said. "She went to military school, remember?"

* * *

><p><em>Present - 8:19 pm PDT<em>

Olivia was tempted. She stood right behind them, between there and not-there, stepping between the strings of the universe, not fully materializing before she was force to become all there and return to her safe place inside the house where she could still watch them. Neva had called after talking to Dacian

_…__  
><em>

_…__  
><em>

_"Livvy. What's got you so jumpy today? You got your sixth sense going again?"_

_Olivia had frowned - she never told anyone in the house of her abilities - they had just accepted that Olivia could pop out of nowhere at any given time and it helped keep the kids in line. Not to mention her 'sixth-sense' - she could peg a person of ill-intent the instant she laid eyes on them - not say her ability wasn't flawed. It was, unfortunately by her humanity and her subsequent ability to let outside things influence her better judgment._

_"Yes,"_

_"Well, good." Neva had said. "Jake Masters __definitely isn't who he says he is. He's the one who made my brother disappear," And Olivia had berated herself for falling for his story for even a minute. "It's okay," Neva said as if she knew. "He has charisma - and unfortunately, he knows how to use it," Olivia wasn't satisfied. "Don't confront them if they come back," Neva added._

_"They?"_

_"They. Keep the kids safe. No confrontations. Don't give them any reason for them to come after __you, okay? I'm meeting Dacian - "_

_"Him? Wannabe Airforce guy?"_

_"Hey, he's a good pilot! Me and him got some Chris-related things to take care of. Don't confront."_

_..._

**Present**

Olivia returned to the present and watched as James and the two Chinese brothers walked to the curb where their bikes were waiting and read their lips. They were talking in whispers and their backs were to her so she opened a small rift near them and listened.

"What good is this Olivia chick anyway? We already have Neva - we don't need bait,"

_They have Neva?_

**_Don't confront!_**

"Xaviax believes we can manipulate her into working for us - having an Esper on our side would an advantage - especially after they've lost Dacian and Neva,"

Olivia's eyes narrowed._Trying to play me for a fool, are you?_

**_Don't confront!_**

Olivia dismissed the echo of Neva's orders - strong suggestion - and Olivia stepped into the small rift, in between the strings of the universe, feeling herself briefly compress molecules as the air she left behind protested at the sudden unnatural exit with a louder 'pop' than usual and appeared behind the three men silently.

"There's goes that plan,"

Danny, Albert and James whirled around to face Olivia, her long dark hair tied into a thick braid pinned into a bun on the back of her head, her dark clothes nearly blending into her chocolate colored skin. She smirked. "Not so confident now, are you? Why are you looking for Neva...?" _If you already have her?_

"We already found her. Now we're looking for you,"

Olivia smiled unpleasantly. "Keep looking..."

Danny and Albert went for their advent decks but there was a faint pop as air rushed to fill the space where Olivia once stood.

James growled. "She told her!"

Something solid landed on James and hands clamped down on the Cho Brothers shoulders as they were suddenly wrenched from where they were standing and dragged into a white of void space, reality warping before their eyes. The void flickered and a for a second it felt like being crammed into a tiny tube – but then instead of a blur of color, there was shimmering glass of the mirror void. Suddenly, reality abruptly reasserted itself in the form of a deserted and jungle-like park and they were thrown to the ground, hitting tree roots.

"Not exactly," Olivia said, reappearing. She only looked slightly queasy from the trip. "But I know enough. You don't feel like normal humans. I guess you hid it better before - you've dropped your guard."

James pulled out his advent deck as Olivia steadied herself, cracking her knuckles before slipping on a pair of knuckledusters over leather gloves.

"God, I hate Espers," James muttered, rising his to feet. Olivia just smiled and sunk into a fighting stance.

"This isn't really too smart, little girl," Albert taunted, waving his advent deck. "You don't stand a chance. Just be a good girl and give up,"

"That's not being good - that's being a nimrod." she took a fighting stance, hands up in a box position. "Bring it on, boys,"

"Be careful what you wish for," Danny said, thrusting his advent deck forward as James and Albert did, the advent belts appearing around their waists.

_Sorry, Neva. I was never meant to be the solider you were._

* * *

><p><em>8: 21 pm<em>

"Das? Das, you okay?"

Dacian's eyes blinked open slowly, recoiling slightly from the touch. The hands lifted away as he sat up, looking into Neva's shadowed face. She seemed relieved. "Good - I thought Xaviax had taken your powers away,"

Dacian lifted his hand to his face. "Can you see my hand?" he asked, reaching out to Neva with his mind. It was simple really - his mind spread it's influence outward, a field over the body, tricking the sight of beings and machines who looked at him into believing that they didn't see anything with their eyes or hear anything with their ears or, in the case of machines, detect anything with their sensors. He felt the tingle of his power that indicating his powers was in effect but he wanted to be sure.

"No,"

Dacian breathed in relief and glanced around. Night had fallen at last and the moon was half-full, a thick scattering of stars filling the skies. They were sitting in a deserted courtyard whose vegetation had run wild or died, littered with rubble, metal scrap parts and decayed bits of monsters. Surrounding the courtyard, a good distance away was a wrought iron fence of bronze and beyond that were a few outbuildings and beyond that forest. There was a large piece of mirror nearby – clearly it had been their gateway. "Where...are we?"

Neva stood slowly, extending a hand to help Dacian to his feet. "I don't know," she said.

"Hey, Chris's advent deck!" Dacian said, spotting at their feet. He bent to pick it up but it just jumped into Neva's hand and she smiled broadly before looking around at the building. "Looks deserted..."

Clearly the building had once been well-kept - there were pathways winding through beds of flowers, long shriveled up and the pond located nearer the house looked gross and stagnant.

Neva prowled through the wreckage of bricks and dirt, turning over a piece of metal with her foot. She paused, holding her breath and bent down - A Wing Knight bat crest was engraved deep into a scrap of metal clumsily as if a child had drawn it. And it wasn't the only one - there were pieces of metal everywhere - she could spot, Kit's Dragon emblem, the sting emblem, a very poorly done Cobra...

She investigated further - there was a rotted _shinai _in a pond, a crumbled, dirt-stained photo with twelve teenagers - eleven boys and one girl out of the whole bunch - packed together, smiling and make weird faces. She looked up towards the house - there was a pathway off to the side leading to another section of the house and there was a patio - clearly this was the rear of the manor. There were a few curtains in the windows and they were all dark.

Dacian carefully didn't touch anything - the advent energy was abundant and felt...strange. Different from the ocean of it that had been in the advent void. He felt like if he touched anything, he'd see more than he could handle.

"Oh my god,"

"What?" Dacian asked, trotting over. "Do you know where we are?"

"Ventarra. This is the Kamen Rider's _home_,"

* * *

><p><em>Xaviax's Mechanical Fortress<em>

"I can not believe this!" A hapless dragoon minion went flying into the ceiling and dissipated in black particles as it's destroyer, it's master paced back and forth in front of the static consumed mirror-screen. "The Espers have upended every plan I have launched against them - we acted too _soon_! Had we gained the trust of Neva before Len and Kit got a hold of her..." Xaviax paused. "Wait..."

_Wing Knight sensed it. He sensed that an unwanted presence - James - was approaching her. But...how? He wasn't using the mirrors. Do Kamen Riders have a unique sense for Espers? But wouldn't they have sensed her before this? But, Marcelli - her friend, Dacian - also went undetected and it was only through guesswork that we determined that Miss Olivia Butler was also an Esper...what shields them from detection? Why did Wing Knight sense her at__ all..._

"The Espers are a mystery! An anomaly, unpredictable! No wonder we cannot act properly against them!"

_The only way to grasp victory now that they have appeared is trick them to leaving somehow..._Xaviax smiled and waving at the mirror-screen. It revealed a pristine lab only in the way not a single stain marred the walls or counters - but countless tools and samples littered the table. At the counter stood a man with spiky-black hair wearing glasses and a lab-coat peering through a microscope. A similar dressed man with sandy hair was taking notes and a red-haired woman was working on a computer behind them at the desk.

"Why not...send the Espers on a wild goose chase...?"

Xaviax crossed over the mirror computer and waved at the screen, trying to find his Riders but failed. He frowned, flicking through the mirrors and frowned everytime he failed.

_What have the Espers done now...?_

* * *

><p><em>Ventarra - Rider Manor<em>

Neva covered her mouth with a sleeve as Dacian swung the door of the abandoned manor opened, causing a loud clang and a cloud of dust to puff up.

The dust-covered surfaces of mirrors could be seen and the images of the great rokh and the leviathan flickered as the Marines moved further into the house.

"Why did they bring us here?" Dacian asked.

"And why does the Rider Manor look so...abandoned? The rest of Ventarra looks strangely pristine,"

__**:Xaviax may have wanted to shame their memory...:**__

Neva jumped at the sound of another female voice in her mind and looking around she could see the leviathan laughing in amusement. "You can talk!"

**:****_We can _**__**all **__**_talk. But you two hear all advent beasts, not just your own,:_**the Leviathan explained.**_:I am Kronens,:_**

_:Aurum,:_ the griffin added, appearing in the mirror, followed by the faint image of Evildiver. **_:_**_We had to get away from Xaviax - sorry about being so abrupt,:_

_"_That's fine," Dacian said. "It just a relief getting away from that freak...wh_o was _he anyway?"

"The final boss," Neva said.

"Seriously? You're speaking in video game terms now?"

"Well, he is!" Neva said defensively. "That was Xaviax, the guy who's to blame for this mess! He stole all the people of Ventarra and now he wants to do the same to Earth!"

Dacian stared at her a long moment. "And you let me run around fighting paranormal monsters without knowing anything!"

"You wanted to come," Neva pointed out.

"You asked me to come! For Chris! How could I say no? !"

"This isn't the first time you've jumped into something without knowing the whole picture!"

"We're talking about aliens here not terrorists!"

"Don't you think that either of those things are just as likely to kill you as the next?"

**_:_****_There _**_is _**_a reason we brought you here,: _**Kronens cut in smoothly. **_:This is one of the bases of the Kamen Riders - it was abandoned during the 1st Rider War, we think . Here is where we hope you can find an artifact...that will help you battle on par with the Kamen Riders...:_**

"You hope?" Dacian repeated, frowning.

The griffin shrugged hers wing. _:Truth be told we are not entirely sure of the location of the advent bracers – we don't have a connection to them yet,:_

"Then how did you find us?" Neva asked.

_:We choose you,: _Aurum said simply and Dacian sighed.

"My life seem much less confusing a few hours ago..." He muttered. _And here I thought having psychic abilities made it complicated!_

_"_Join the club," Neva commented wryly as chiming shriek of the advent's musical alarm sounded – but the chime was different.

Dacian frowned; Neva stepped back from the mirror they were talking to Kronens and Aurum with and dragged Dacian with her as the surface of the mirror rippled – a second later, Dragon Knight tumbled through with a sword in hand, rolling to his feet.

"Kit!" Neva said in surprise, drawing his attention and he turned the glowing-red eyes of his visor towards her.

"Neva, you're okay!" he said gleefully, dropping his sword and sweeping her up in a hug and spinning her around, inducing a yelp of surprise and a laugh from the girl.

"Kit, your armor hurts!"

"Sorry. I thought Xaviax had gotten you," he said quietly, setting her down again. "Don't scare me like that!"

Neva grinned sheepishly. "Sorry – I just wanted to help."

"I'm not mad – thanks for getting my dad back."

"No problem,"

Dacian coughed, interrupting their moment. "He almost got us," Dacian admitted. "But the advent beasts helped us,"

Wing Knight stepped through the mirror, raising an eyebrow at the scene, picked up Dragon Knight's sword then glanced around at the large entry hall they were standing in. His eyes widened in shock behind his visor. "How...?"

**_:We brought them here - for safety: _**Kronens said and the two Kamen Riders turned to face the mirror in surprise.

"That's not Dragredder," Dragon Knight said, pointing at the Leviathan and the griffin in the mirror. "How can I hear them?"

A distant explosion sounded followed by an urgent shrieking chime of the advent.

"We don't have time to explain," Neva said urgently as Wing Knight passed the Dragsaber back to his partner. "Someone's in trouble,"

"Olivia," Dragon Knight muttered. "Strike and Axe must have dragged her into Ventarra,"

"He works fast," Dacian muttered as Neva exclaimed: "Those bastards!" and ran out of the dusty house.

"Wait, don't just run off!" Dragon Knight objected, chasing after her. "Don't you remember what happened last time? !"

"Last time, we didn't have advent beasts," Dacian said as he and Wing Knight followed behind at a run.

"You don't have the advent bracers but you won't need them to work with your advent beast," Wing Knight agreed. "You won't have weapons necessarily but do you two still have your guns?"

"Yeah but I'm not sure how many rounds we have left,"

"Then make every shot count,"

* * *

><p>Olivia thanked whatever deity who would listen for the cover of trees and darkness, even though she wasn't entirely sure how she apported* them there. The trees made it harder for the advent beasts to get at her but that didn't stop the giant purple cobra from spewing acid all over the place. The trees were smoking, pools of acid, eating away at the ground.<p>

"I'm beginning to think that these Espers are more trouble than they're worth," Axe said, hefting his axe as his eyes darted underneath the visor looking for Olivia.

His brother stuck close by his side, hefting his twin drill weapon. "There isn't even a mirror around,"

Strike didn't say anything but he was in complete agreement. They were by no means _superhuman _but they were not normal and they weren't easy to capture. He just hoped that they could finish this before the Knights showed up.

She appeared on a small tree and it vanished before reappearing above him. He dodged to the side just a crashed down in the stop where he had been standing.

_Where did she go?_

He knew they were in Ventarra but the really question was - 'How had she teleported them into another _dimension_? Had it been by accident or on purpose?' Olivia landed on a small boulder and apported it away.

Hearing a disturbance above him, Axe dodged but Spear was not fast enough. The boulder collapsed ontop of Spear's leg, producing a roar of pain as something snapped.

"Albert!" Axe rolled the boulder off Spear's leg admist growls of pain.

_At this rate, she's really going to kill us._

_I should have listened to Neva. _Olivia sulked in the trees. _There was a weird dimension shift when I apported* today - was it because of these guys?_

"This Esper's trying to hide - she knows she can't take all three of us," Axe said.

"_Two_," Spear corrected, sounding as if he was biting his tongue, leaning heavily against a tree.

_Not with your damn armor on, not in a fair fight._

A loud gunshot rang out; Spear went down again with a screech of pain - the ground exploded, sending Axe and Strike flying backwards; Spear slammed into a tree on his back and hit the ground, clutching his injured knee, howling in pain again

Venosnaker made no move to help Strike as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Albert!" Axe scrambled to his feet but another explosion of the earth sent him flying again.

"I don't care if you are human - you are a traitor and you deserve to punished."

Venosnaker vanished as a speared tentacle crashed through the trees, wrapping around Spear and squeezing tightly around him.

**_"_**__**Attack vent,"**__Axe slotted a card in his Axe, summoning Destwilder.

The tiger lept at the offending tentacle, claws scraping the metal but the tentacle simply shook her off and squeezed harder as Spear slowly turned into dust particles.

"Albert!"

The tentacle dropped him and retreated into the trees. Axe ignored it, running to his brother; Spear reached out – "Bro..." – just as he completely vanished - vented.

Axe fell to his knees. "No..."

"I'd feel a little bit sorrier for that if you weren't working for Xaviax," a voice said and Axe jerked his head around. His eyes narrowed to murderous slits under the visor.

"You..."

Neva emerged from the trees, holding a gun in her hand and a giant head of an advent beast, as big as her whole body was hovering next to her. "You bitch!"

"No," Strike seized Axe by the arm and dragged him backwards. "No, they're too strong, we have to go!"

"She vented Albert!"

"Your buddy vented Chris!" she screamed. "No one is exempt from loss in this war, no matter what side you're on!"

"We have to go!" Strike insisted as Dragredder's roar rang through the trees. Somehow Strike dragged Axe away from the scene, stumbling into the trees with Destwilder behind them, pushing her master away.

Olivia appeared next to Neva and the Marine trained girl frowned at her friend, looking up at Olivia - she was at least a head taller than she was. "Didn't I say 'don't confront'?"

Olivia shrugged. "I wanted to see what the hell was going on with the three creepy guys lurking outside our house," Then she twitched, sensing something in the trees. "Who's there?"

"My friends."

* * *

><p>AN - Apportation* another word for teleporting.

_I had difficulty with this chapter and I'm not sure about too sure about the end..._

_I started Chapter 18 so I'm predicting...2 more chapters to finish this up. (possibly 3) Not sure yet. Chapter 18 is going to pretty mellow though._


	18. Calm After the Storm

**_Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance._**

_Private Thoughts/Flashbacks__, __"Radio/Cellphone"__, :__Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:__, _**"Vent Announcement."**

**Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for reviewing! (Wow, you can get internet on your iPod? The wonders of technology these days. I was thinking you were the unnamed guest but I wasn't sure. (obiviously)**

**Posted: **August 16th, 2012, Thursday

Sorry for the late update but this chapter was confusing me and then I got side-tracked. :P

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Water Clock – Chapter 18 – Calm After the Storm**

* * *

><p>Dragon Knight stepped out of the trees, holding up his hands when Olivia dropped into a fighting stance.<p>

"Wait, wait! I'm on your side!"

Neva chuckled lightly. "Don't be so dramatic, Kit," she admonished as Kronens bumped her large head into Olivia's side, warning her off. The dark-skinned woman jumped a mile – the leviathan's large bone-protected skull had been significantly hidden in the darkness and behind slightly behind Neva.

**"What the hell is ****_that?!"_**

The giant head looked at her with its giant eyes and shrank down, rearing up until it looked like Venosnaker except blue with an armored skull, four tentacles and a lot of fins. It was still big but at least she could see it's whole body now.

"What...?"

"I'll explain soon, just go with it. That's Dragon Knight," she pointed at the armored warrior she had called Kit.

The red-armored warrior just shuffled on his feet. "They're gone then, I guess." he muttered, head bowed. "Their energy is receding," He looked up and focused on Neva then peered into the trees. "Dacian and Len are coming – I ran ahead. I felt... someone get vented," he looked at Neva questioningly and she averted her gaze.

"We vented Spear," she said quietly, resting a hand on Kronen's side.

Olivia wanted to know what 'vented' meant exactly but she was guessing it was sort of like death judging from the way this 'Spear' guy had dissolved but she decided to keep her mouth shut. She felt like she was intruder here – clearly this new guy wanted to comfort Neva but wasn't because Olivia was standing there. He looked into the trees again.

"Well, I broke his leg." Olivia said. Dragon Knight stared at her and she shrugged. "I dropped a boulder on him. The one in the brown and gold armor." She patted Neva's shoulder awkwardly. "Don't feel too bad,"

Neva smiled faintly.

"You're telekinetic?" Dragon Knight asked.

"No..." Olivia said, looking at him suspiciously and wondering how he jumped to the conclusion that she had powers.

"She's a teleporter," someone said from behind her and Neva had to restrain Olivia from apporting again.

"That's Wing Knight," She introduced the new arrival - a man in dark armor reminiscent of a bat - as Dacian trotted out of the dark trees behind him.

"Well, everything's taken care of," said the Marine, stretching his arms over his head."The bad guys are gone, it's dark and I don't know about everyone else, but I'm pretty hungry. It's been a long day,"

"Longer for me than you," Neva sighed.

"Come on," Wing Knight said. "She can't teleport us back – "

Olivia, now overwhelmed and immensely confused, scowled. "Wait, Neva what the hell is going on? Wh_o are _these people? !"

"The guys you were fighting were Kamen Riders - the bad ones. These two -" Neva pointed at Dragon Knight and Wing Knight. "Are the good guys and they've been helping me all day. As for how you got here - I don't know but we're going to go home now -"

"To base," Wing Knight corrected.

"Aka _my _apartment," Dragon Knight added.

"And we'll explain everything to you." Neva finished.

Olivia nodded. "Okay, fine."

Dragredder and Kronens proceed to lead the way through the dark forest.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Ventarra – (Abandoned) Rider Lodge – 9: 17 pm<em>**

The group exited the forest, approaching the fenced in plot of land that had once been home to the Kamen Riders and Kronens and Dragredder faded from view, sent on their way by their respective masters.

"This is creepy," Olivia commented as Neva darted ahead of the ground, heading for the abandoned lodge.

"Don't!" Wing Knight called, stopping her and she turned looking at him in confusion.

"But Kronens said - "

"Nothing is going to be here," Wing Knight explained, as they followed Dragredder's still-present fireball back into the house. "This was an old training place – we use to come here years ago, when we were kids,"

"You were training to be Riders when you were _kids_?" Dragon Knight said in disbelief.

"Well, we were teenagers." Wing Knight amended. "Kit, you go ahead with Dacian. Neva with Olivia – Kit's place. I'll be right behind you,"

"Len," Neva said.

"Yes?"

"Can...we come back later? I think...it'll be helpful." she gestured to Olivia, Dacian and herself. "For us. And...maybe there's things left behind. It couldn't hurt to look."

Wing Knight seemed reluctant but nodded. "Sure. It's too dark now anyway. But we should get some rest. Xaviax has enough of you three today,"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Kit's Place – 9: 20 pm<em>**

Upon hearing the advent chime, Maya looked from her laptop and smiled as Kit stepped through the mirror, holding Dacian by the shoulder. Lacey bent over a sheaf of paper and notes, muttering to herself and Trent was absorbed in his own laptop.

"You're back!" Maya said, making her two friends look up.

"Yup," Kit stepped aside as Neva came through the mirror with a dark-skinned woman, closely followed by Len.

"Who's that?" Trent demanded immediately, pointing at Dacian and Olivia.

"That's solider boy!" Lacey said brightly, waving at him. "For a while there we thought you weren't gonna make it back,"

"Almost didn't," he confessed. "I'm - "

"He's Dacian," Neva explained, jumping onto his back and nearly knocking him over. He yelped. "My second brother,"

"That's great and all but can you get off my back?" Dacian grumbled. "Considering all the grief you put me through today -"

"_Your_ grief? Dude, _my _grief was more painful! You got involved _voluntarily_ - I had the misfortune to be _attacked! _You have no one to blame but yourself,"

"This is Neva's friend, Olivia," Len interrupted, gesturing to the tall dark-skinned woman who was looking around. "She's an Esper too," Olivia subtly glared at him. "Relax, they're on our side."

"Think of them as ... base support," Kit quipped. "This Maya, Lacey and Trent," he pointed to each of the 'support team' as he suppose and they chorused hellos.

"I'm starving," Neva complained. "Got any leftovers, Kit?"

"In the fridge," he said, darting into the kitchenette.

"Go over there," Neva ordered Dacian, pointing.

"Get off my back,"

"I will after you walk over there,"

Len stood out of the way as the now-expanded group crowded around the kitchen counter as Kit laid out leftovers buffett-style. Dacian trotted over the kitchen area, grumbling under his breath.

For a brief moment, he could imagine being back in one of the Rider Homes around the kitchen island or dining room table arguing with all the other Riders about who got what. Kase would be smacking wandering hands with her spoon and Nolan would be breaking up the impending argument between Hunt and Chance as their voices rose - Hunt in annoyance and Chance's in mockery. Adam darting in and 'rescuing' his favorite food from the buffet before the excitable Ian could get to it. Quinn trying to keep the peace and stop Kase from maiming the others, Cameron rolling his eyes.

But it wasn't them - the group was smaller and only Kit's face matched one of the people he was missing.

Trent and Maya set themselves up at the end of the counter with their laptops, talking over each other about conspiracy websites. Neva slid off Dacian's back and claimed on of the barstools. Olivia complained about being the only one in the dark; Neva patted the taller woman's shoulder sympathically and Dacian reached over Neva for the food but got smacked in the hand by Kit who moved the food closer to him. "Don't reach," he said and Maya laughed.

"What?"

Lacey claimed a spot by Dacian with her sheaf of papers. "Hey, Kit, can I get a drink?"

"I feel like a bartender," Kit joked, going to the fridge. "Sure what do you want?"

"Apple juice?"

"Sure, we have that," He got the apple juice and detoured to the cabinets where he collected some dishes and laid them out for use.

"Lacey's been making herself useful," Trent said.

"Writing down the history of the Rider War on Earth," Lacey said proudly and Len's eyes widened in alarm. "In code,"

"Seriously?" Kit said, peering at it. "Aren't people just going to assume it's one huge story? We can't even read it!"

"Michelle was snooping around," Lacey reminded him and she paused. "If I had given her that hacker drive, she'd have everything on Maya's computer - which includes things about you guys."

"Did you delete the records?" Len asked Maya.

"Trent encrypted the files and set up anti-hacker protection,"Maya said. "We tested it - works like a charm,"

"Good,"

"So yeah," Lacey continued. "Code. It's one I made up for myself as a kid - I can teach it you,"

"That would probably be best," Neva said, looking over the pages and pages of coded lettering.

"And here I thought she had a low IQ," Trent muttered and Lacey threw a retracted pen at him, hitting him square in the face. He cried out in pain and laughter ensued.

"So, can I get a rundown of what the hell is going on?" Olivia demanded.

"Lacey is our recordkeeper now," Maya said proudly. "She'll tell you,"

Lacey beamed proudly and shuffled through her notes as Olivia and Dacian ate. After organizing what she had written so far and requesting that Maya jump in to correct anything, she launched into the tale, starting the disappearance of Kit's father and gestured to the silent man in the wheelchair sitting in the far corner of the room.

Len stepped out of the room at that moment, onto the balcony to get some fresh air and to think.

* * *

><p>Neva seperated herself from the group, sitting down on the couch along with Kit; Len was standing on the balcony outside of the apartment. She ate quietly but quickly - Kit respected her need for silence, listeing to Lacey in the background - the clack of computer keys was another layer of background noise and Maya chimed to correct something every now and again with the two new Espers adding in their own questions.<p>

When Neva's dish was bare and sitting on the piece of wood replacing the shattered glass of the coffee table, Kit set down his own partly-full dish, looking at her in concern.

"You nearly gave me a heartattack, you know?" Kit said.

She laughed lightly. "Sorry - but it turned out alright,"

Kit scoffed and leaned back against the couch. "What a long day..."

"Are you sure it's the_ same_ day?"

"For another..." Kit checked the nearby clock."Four, five hours it is,"

"Feels like a week," Neva muttered. "Someone should make a complaint - no insane experiences should happen in less than day. There should be breaks between unbelievable occurrences,"

Kit chuckled. "I agree."

They feel into a silence, comfortable at first. Neva poked at her empty plate, Kit ate some of more of his food, felt a sense of discomfort pervade from Neva and set the plate down again a few moments later.

"It's Spear isn't it?"he said quietly and she nodded, folding her hands.

"The thing is...I don't feel sorry that I did it. Kronens did it but I _felt_ him vanish into the advent void. It felt like...Kronens was an extension of _me_. But I didn't _feel_ anything from it - emotionally I mean. Like - I just shut off my emotions. And...I didn't feel sorry for Axe either."

"Are you sure?"

She stared down at her hands a long moment. "No,"

"I heard what you said though," Kit said. "_'No one is exempt from loss in this war, no matter what side they're on.'_ And you're right. I don't like it, Len doesn't like it - no one likes it. Len was shaken up when he vented Incisor - that's why he couldn't vent Thrust or Chris."

"But Axe and Strike are working for Xaviax." Neva said. "We _have_ to vent them,"

Kit sighed. For some reason it bothered him that she said 'we'. Would Chris want his sister to fight? _But at this point - we really don't have any choice_.

"Yeah. We do. But Strike is hard to vent,"

* * *

><p><strong>The Mechanical Fortress - 9:30 pm <strong>

Xaviax stepped back as the mirror glass rippled and Danny and James stepped through, looking slightly worse for wear. Danny had a deep scowl seemingly plastered to his face and he moved passed Xaviax briskly, growling under his breath.

"I suppose it didn't go well?" Xaviax asked James dryily. "Whatever it was?"

"No," James said. "It didn't. Albert was vented by _Neva_ when she came to help her friend, Olivia. Olivia's original...suspicion returned. She confronted us - _teleported_ us to the Ventarra."

Xaviax's expression didn't change but he took a step back from the mirror glass and stared at James. "That is absurd."

James scoffed and threw up an arm. "The Espers are absurd!"

"Point taken."

James raked his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated breath. "Sir, General - I don't mean to sound...rude but..." he paused, uncertain of how to phrase it. "I thought you had Neva and her friend handled."

Xaviax closed his eyes and nodded, turning towards his most faithful lieutenant but he was facing the back of the room, one hand on his hip. "I did. But I can only hold back the advent beasts so much."

James turned to face him, eyes confused. "I thought advent beasts were captured by Riders in contracts. They're your creatures first."

"They are - but Dragredder returned to the Dragon Knight of it's own freewill and there are...certain advent beasts that drawn to psionic - esperic - abilities such as the ones held by the Rider's new Espers. They intervened - a griffin and a leviathan. And...Chris,"

"You're kidding. I vented him myself!"

"A shark advent beast has appeared to have taken likening to him," Xaviax explained casually. "I do not claim to know everything about advent beasts - that was Eubulon's expertise."

"Eubulon?"

"The Advent Master - founder and leader of the Kamen Riders. The appearance of the Espers and their continued...anomalies has solidified a concern of mine... Advent Guardians _do _exist. And before you ask - I managed to discover a few things when I stormed the Rider's base during their suspended animation. Eubulon wanted to induct Espers as Advent Guardians - six. 1 to every 2 Riders. In the event that they were injured or vented in battle, their Advent Guardian could _unvent _them."

James was silent for a long moment. "...That is the worse news I've had all day,"

Xaviax chuckled. "It is - but I have a simple solution."

"Please share,"

"Send them on a wild goose chase! Now here's where you come in James - do you recall when I broke you out of prison?"

"I would never forget it."

"You expressed concern that our plans would be delayed by certain...Terran heroes. I told you not to worry about it."

"The Power Rangers," James breathed and Xaviax beamed. "They usually - " he paused again and a slow smile crossed his face as he folded his arms over his chest. "You captured the Rangers, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." Xaviax said, sounding proud. "A vast majority of them. Granted I had to replace a few at first because they are quite prominent but I managed to steadily remove them from the public eye. Most of the rest have been placed in hospitals under the symptoms of life-force draining - those lacking genetic abilities and their contribution gave me great leaps forward in my master plan. It's going _much _faster than my conquering of Ventarra..." he frowned. "Which I'm embarrassed to say took years. The few who remain are under my careful watch in places where they can't do much to stop me. And their Morphing grid has been utterly destroyed - even _if_ they arranged themselves properly, they can't make new Rangers or activate their old morphers."

"General, I am impressed."

"Why thank you, James. Now, I need you to use your wonderful hacking skills to send Maya false information on them - whereabouts, things like that. Wing Knight's going to want more firepower and the Espers are the best people to handle such things now aren't they?"

"Brilliant plan, General. I'll get on it."

"Not right _now_. Get Danny - I can hear growling in the back. Get some rest, come in tomorrow and keep an eye on him. I can't have him going on a revenge rampage."

"Yes, General," James saluted and strode, buoyant in the face of Xaviax's new plan. With the Espers out of the way, they could wipe out the Riders and mostly likely used the captured Rangers against the small band. They wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Kit's Apartment - 9:45 pm<em>**

"What do we have to do with this?" Olivia asked when Lacey and Maya had told them everything with some chime-ins from Kit and Neva who had both returned to the kitchen island. "What - we have psychic abilities so it's our responsibility to save the world?" Admittedly the whole thing intrigued her - what were psychic abilities _for_ if not for battle? Wasn't survival and battle the whole reason why some people developed mutagenetic abilities?

"No," said Len startling Trent as the man re-entered the apartment from the balcony. "You don't - what you choose to do with it is _your choice."__  
><em>

_"_So, why are you telling us all of this?" Dacian asked. "It seems like telling makes us automatically apart of this little brigade."

"You were in it the instant you confronted Xaviax's Riders." Len said.

"That sounds contradictory to what you said before," Kit pointed out. Len ignored him.

"The leader of the Kamen Riders wanted to induct Advent Guardians - people with Esperic abilities - who could return certain Riders from the Advent Void without his intervention. But the people on Ventarra lacked this gene - something that Terrans _do_ have,"

"So we have no choice," Olivia said, sounding as if she was just trying to confirm it.

"It doesn't matter. The advent bracers that would have given you access to the advention - the advent energy - are gone. Lost with Master Eubulon when he disappeared."

"He was the leader, right?" Kit asked.

"Yes. The Advent Master. Without the advent bracers, your advention abilities are limited. But it looks like you have access to your advent beast. Olivia's will show up in due time," Len said.

Olivia huffed. "Fine, I'll help."

"What about those people Maya and Trent were looking up..." Lacey asked and then looked over at her two friends who both appeared to be falling asleep over their computers. Trent _had_ fallen asleep on his computer.

"Wow," said Dacian as Lacey viciously poked the pair of them to wakefulness. "Isn't he going to drool on that?"

Len chuckled. "We should probably get to bed - it's been a long day."

"The girls can have my room," Kit volunteered. "Len? You wanna share?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said gruffly.

"Fine, be selfish." the younger Rider scoffed as Dacian moved to help Lacey usher Trent to the couch and Maya directed Neva to Kit's room. "Before we go to bed..." he nodded to the corner where his father had been covered by a blanket and seemed to be slumbering. "My dad?"

* * *

><p><strong>10: 34 pm PDT<strong>

It was near midnight and the hospital was almost completely silent when the mirror in Frank Taylor's hospital room rippled.

Neva stepped out, pushing Frank Taylor's wheelchair, closely followed by Kit and Len. With Len's help, they replaced Frank in his place on the bed, pulling the sheets over him. Kit breathed a sigh of relief as Neva folded up the wheelchair and placed it in the corner where it belonged.

"Do you think, they'll try this again?" Kit asked. Len shook his head.

"Xaviax likes to try new tricks," Len assured him but Kit's worried expression did not lift.

"Neva, could you put an advent barrier here? Give Frank a little more protection?" Len asked.

"I can try - I can't make promises,"

"I know - just try your best."

"I'll get Kronens on it." she assured him before turning her attention to Kit. "Come on," Neva said, placing a hand on Kit's shoulder. "Let's get to bed - your eyes are red,"

"Yours are too," he retorted but he allowed Neva to tug him to his feet.

"We better get out of here before someone sees us," Len added, peering through the glass. "You first,"

Neva had to tug Kit towards the window. "I'll come with you to visit tomorrow," she promised and it seemed to make the Terran Kamen Rider feel better because he wrapped his hand tightly around Neva's and stepped through the mirror.

Len paused, looking back at the unmoving form of Kit's father and pressed his lips together into a line. "Don't worry, sir. We're going to find you a cure," _We'll save everyone who needs to be saved from Xaviax. That's a promise_.

He too disappeared into the mirrors.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Yay Chapter 18 is finished! I had a burst of inspiration. I love those. :) I am 75% sure that the next chapter will be the last (or there will be two more chapters - still not sure) I'm making plans for the sequel which will once again disrupt the course of canon continunity. I should also give you a heads up - I'm returning to school soon so...I have to pack and sort things out and stuff. So...yeah. Hope you enjoyed this!


	19. Tranquil Morning

_Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance._

_Private Thoughts/Flashbacks, "Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, _**"Vent Announcement."**

**Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for reviewing and being such a loyal review for the entire duration of this story. I appreciate it! :D**

**Posted: **September 26, 2012, Wednesday

_Edited: October 20, 2012, Saturday/November 17, 2012, Saturday_

_I realized one of the sections was in the wrong place... :P_

* * *

><p><strong>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<strong>

**Water Clock – Chapter 19 – Tranquil Morning**

* * *

><p><em>No-Men's Base of Operations – Glass Tower – 2:11 am - The Next Day<em>

_Agent Phillip's Office_

"Without the information from Maya's computer to confirm our suspicions we're running purely on guesswork," Michelle said calmly, handing the file over to Agent Phillips over his desk. "We only know that those people are at the center of it all,"

Agent Phillips opened the file – it was full of pictures of Kit, Len, Chris, Maya, Lacey and Trent as well a number of reports. Chris's picture had the words 'unknown status' stamped on it in bright bold letters while Len's had 'off-worlder' on it, Kit's had 'suspect' while Maya, Lacey and Trent were all labeled as civilians.

"Didn't Miss Sheridan mention something about 'robots'?"

"Yes, she did. She mentioned the presence of two other unknown persons when she witnessed the alien hostiles. She described them as Asian brothers."

"And the recent security breach? Any news on that?"

"No, sir," Michelle said, wishing she didn't have to say that. "The team is still working on that. Good news - the intruder was definitely human."

"That is what worries me. Give me a crash course on what we know so far," Agent Phillips requested.

"Of course, sir. Maya – Ms. Young – is very determined to uncover and exposed the truth to the general population – or at least she was when I met her. She was always very frustrated at having to be my 'sidekick' at the orders of the editor of 'Way Above Top Secret' but her attitude changed around the time she met Kristophoros Taylor,"

"You think _he's_ at the center of this," Agent Phillips said, holding up his picture – it was high day at the time of the photograph and Kit was walking down the sidewalk wearing his signature motorcycle jacket with the red-stripes on the sleeves, his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Yes, sir, I do. He brought the unknown, Len, into Maya's life and we believe that Trent also knows quite a bit. My guess is that Lacey apparently has also been...'brought into the fold' of the secret. We also collected some additional information – the Marine Christopher Ramirez has not been seen for the last day or so which is unusual since he joined Len and Taylor but we have confirmation that he has a sister by the name of Nevena Ramirez.

She went to a very disciplined school since the age of five – not quite military but based on the same principles and trained chiefly in the Okinawan martial art of Goju-Ryu. She also attended a special boot camp for girls – again not affiliated with the military but founded by veterans of the armed forces and the students there often get the best spots if they choose to join the military training programs afterwards. She's also quite the dancer and acrobat. She graduated at the age of sixteen and moved out shortly thereafter with the blessing of her parents and took over a safehouse for unfortunate children after joining an traveling acrobatic troupe – the troupe no longer travels and dedicates a majority of their time to caring for the children."

"And has she made contact with Taylor or Len?"

"That we do not know, sir. Chris and Neva both seemed very close until very recently when he left the family home without telling them where he was going,"

"But it is possible," he murmured, leaning back in his chair. "Agent Walsh, what about the Power Rangers? Any word on their whereabouts?"

"No sir – every Ranger on Earth has disappeared – the few who are still around genuinely have no idea what I'm talking about and residents of their respective hometowns have no helpful information,"

"Cassidy Cornell?"

"Hasn't seen the Dino Thunder Rangers of Reefside since high school which for them was five years ago. Hasn't been in contact with them in two. It's possible that the Rangers have been captured by a hostile force."

Agent Phillips stood, dropping the file on the desk and gesturing for Michelle to follow him out of the room. "In light of lack of evidence, I want _Grace's Books' _to be watched around the clock. Make note of all common visitors and the frequency of which they visit and how long they stay. Track their movements where ever possible."

"I can monitor Maya through the conspiracy blog websites though she may become more careful," Michelle volunteered.

"Good." He paused at the elevator and entered the appropriate code that only he, Michelle and a few other people in the organization had. "I am going to check on the Roswell Subject. You – get some rest, gather a team and start your assigned task as soon as you are able."

Michelle nodded respectfully. "Yes, sir."

"Dismissed,"

Michelle briskly turned and walked back the way she came, having already pulled out her No-Men issued omnidevice. "Agent Wells? I need a team in the usual room, ASAP,"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Kit's Place – 2: 30 am<em>**

The apartment was silent save for the soft sounds of sleepers quietly breathing and Len's socked feet padding through the small, now crowded apartment.

Dacian and Kit had both taken up residence on the floor on either side of the glass-less coffee table in sleeping bags and Trent's arm flopped off the couch, his sleeping form bundled under blankets. The curtains were drawn, all the lights in the apartment were off save for the flashing lights on the digital clock and the house phone. Satisfied that all looked peaceful, Len carefully stepped around the sleeping bodies and crept to Kit's room which the girls had taken over for the night.

Lacey had taken the bed, Maya the futon and Neva and Olivia were both in sleeping bags – Neva was sleeping in a sleeping bag by the window with one of Kit's pillows under her head and Olivia was closer to the wall. Maya burrowed so far under the covers only her hair could be seen, Lacey slept rather neatly on her backside.

Neva muttered quietly in her sleep; Olivia's brow was furrowed, frowning in her sleep. Len frowned and drew closer to Olivia. _Is she having a nightmare? A vision? _Visionary nightmares were not uncommon amongst Kamen Riders – sometimes, before they were completely tamed, the advent beast would test your will by attempting to impose it's own. Could the same thing happen to the Advent Guardians, howver unofficial they were? Olivia growled in her sleep and thrashed, turning over but he wasn't a getting an intense bad vibe off of her so he moved to Neva who was muttering under her breath.

"Chris...what...?"

Curious now, Len quietly returned to the living room where Dacian was sleeping with the other males of their expanded group; he too mumbling under his breath, twitching, his face moving, jaws clenching on occasion.

But not a one of them gave off a vibe of fear or any other negative emotion...Maybe it was an Esper thing? Or an Advent Guardian thing.

Len straightened, rolling his shoulders and looked a the digital clock. He felt a little bad for keeping the other bedroom for himself, but _his _nightmares were nothing to trifle about.

He didn't need that much sleep anyway but he could always ask them in the morning and take them to see the abandoned Rider's base to see if they could get some answers. He doubted it but it was worth a shot.

* * *

><p><em>7: 35 am<em>

Kit woke to the whisper of voices in the room and his back aching slightly from sleeping on the hard floor last night and groaned at the stray bits of sunlight streaming through the tightly drawn curtains.

He turned over onto his stomach and pulled the pillow over his head but after a few moments of trying to drift back to sleep, he gave up and rolled back onto his back, effortlessly identifying the voices of the two women sitting at the kitchen counter – Maya and Neva.

"Look at all of this – it goes back at least … twenty _years_ – all the way to the first recorded sighting in Angel Grove. Most of the Power Rangers have been spotted in California or in some Pacific state – Washington, California, Nevada. One team was found in Australia or New Zealand, I'm still not totally clear on that. Also smaller teams have been spotted in the European countries but they were less active , lesser known and typically worked with the local law-enforcement."

"And no Rangers have been seen for three years?"

"Two and half, technically," Maya corrected. "Also, in recent years the Power Rangers have been granted mutagenetic or mystic abilities that may be of help to us once we find them,"

"_If _we find them," Olivia corrected, joining the conversation.

"I'm optimistic," Dacian said. "I have psychometric retrocognition remember?"

"I thought you had a time limit." Olivia scoffed.

"Yes and no. If I have a very strong object, a meaningful object, I can get a lot more detail no matter how long it's been. It helps if I have information beforehand."

"So, we have go on an archeological dig?" Olivia said, a frown in her voice.

"Well, I have telekinesis - " Neva started.

"All you can do is blow things up, not move them," Dacian pointed out, a faint smile on his lips. Neva punched him on the shoulder; apparently it was stronger than Dacian had realized, producing a cry of pain.

"I'm working on it!" Neva said defensively. "Dacian can see into the past and Olivia can teleport - hey do you know your range?"

"Apparently, I can teleport between dimensions," she said dryly.

"Actually, I was thinking about that, " Maya said. "I think you teleported to Ventarra because you were holding on to Riders when you teleported. They had advent decks on them."

"Hm..." Neva sounded thoughtful. "Good point,"

All of their discussion forced to Kit wake up and take notice. Realizing that there was no hope of going back to sleep, Kit groaned and turned over again in his sleeping bag, making the zipper jingle. "Morning, Kit," Neva said cheerfully and Kit waved an arm at her, not looking.

"Why are you all up so _early_?"

"It's 7:30," Maya said as if this was an acceptable time to get up in the morning, which in Kit's opinion it _wasn't._

"That's _early_." Kit moaned, covering his head.

"Len left before the sun got up," Neva said dryly. "Trent and Lacey are still asleep though." Kit jumped as she jabbed him sharply in the back and jerked his head from under the pillow.

"When did you get over here!?" he demanded, squinting against the light.

"Just now," she said simply. Like the others she had swapped her battle-worn clothes for 'pajamas' - tanktop and basketball shorts that Kit had brought from the store for his unexpected guests. "Come on – we made breakfast,"

"It's getting too crowded in here," Kit complained dragging himself out of bed – or rather his sleeping. "What are you talking about?"

"Len left a note," Maya said, waving a sticky-note as Neva clattered around the kitchenette as if she had lived there all her life and set out a plate for Kit. "He said to look up the 'Power Rangers we were talking about last night,"

"I thought they were myths," Kit mumbled and Maya raised an eyebrow at him. "This was _before _I became a Kamen Rider, obviously."

"Just because one myth is real, doesn't mean they're _all_ real." Dacian agreed and Kit nodded.

"Exactly. People get things wrong all the time!" Neva set down a plate in front of him with a grapefruit, sausages and pancakes on it and as an afterthought, added a glass of orange juice."You read my mind," Kit said happily, digging in then he paused. "Did you really?"

"I _blow things up _with my mind but no, I cannot read them," Neva assured him but Kit still looked suspicious. She bopped him on the head, making him flail his arm in protest.

"Well, in any case, we need a plan," Olivia said. "I vote - going back to the house,"

"Livvie!"

"Don't call me that! And I meant - temporarily, not 'retire from saving the world'. The kids are gonna miss you - you know how they get."

Neva bopped herself on the head. "I can't believe I forgot about them," she muttered.

"The kids?" Maya echoed.

"Yeah - we take care of a children's safehouse for unfortunate children," Neva explained. "Runaways, orphans, misunderstood kids, what people call delinquents, college kids with very little money to their name,"

"You should go back," Kit agreed with his mouth half-full of food. Neva poked him sharply. "Sthop dat!"

"But what about the Rider's Manor back in Ventarra?" Dacian asked. "Len said he'd let us take a look around today."

"Rider's Manor?" Maya asked, her brow furrowed.

"When we were kidnapped yesterday," Neva explained. "Xaviax transported Dacian and I to a...mirror space, I guess. Mirror void? But then, the advent beasts intervened and when we got out, they took us to the one of the Rider's old bases in Ventarra. We wanted to take a look at it today,"

Maya's eyes widened. "Can I come?" she asked Kit, producing a laugh from her friend.

"If Len says it's okay,"

"Where is the Batman anyway?" Olivia quipped.

"Probably out on his inane early morning training sessions," Kit said dismissively, waving a hand as there was a loud thud from the couch and Trent yelped in pain.

"Ow..."

A sharp chime of a mirror rang out - Kit lightly his head against the countertop. "I am not properly dressed," he groaned.

"We can go," Neva offered.

Kit sat up. "Absolutely - " He stopped at Neva's dangerous look. "Actually, yeah. Neva, Dacian go - don't look at me like that Ollie -"

"_Olivia_ to you."

"Sorry," he held up his hands in a sign of peace. "They're...slightly better equipped...?"

"Olivia knows how to fight," Neva said in defense of her friend. "She can actually keep up with me in sparring,"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Olivia said dryly as Dacian collected his night clothes - he was the only one properly dressed - and Neva wandered back into the girl's temporary room.

"Come on, Livvie, get dressed!"

"Yeah, whatever," Olivia said as she followed Neva to the room.

"Um, Kit?" Maya asked, making her way over to Trent to help him disentangle from the blankets. "We have to open the shop soon..."

"I'll try to find Len," Kit promised, finding the pile of clean clothes he had left under the table last night. "I'm going to use the bathroom and then I'll go help Neva and Dacian,"

* * *

><p>"Lacey wake up!" Olivia shook Lacey awake by the shoulder vigrously and the other African-American woman stirred to wakefulness.<p>

"Uh...go away Maya," Lacey whined, flapping a hand at Olivia. The taller woman flicked her in the ear, startling Lacey awake. "Maya!" she complained. "Oh, hi Olivia,"

"Maya needs you to get up." Olivia said, standing up and pulling on her leather jacket over her black shirt from yesterday.

"Where's everyone going?" she asked rolling out of the bed as Neva finished pulling on her own boots, grabbed her leather jacket and walked out of the room.

"She and Trent need to cover the shop and me, Dacian and Neva are going monster hunting. Kit's going to join us. Since, you're the free one, you're doing research," Olivia said. "Can you do that?"

Lacey shrugged. "It's actually kind of fun,"

* * *

><p>Streets of Ventarra<p>

The street of the city were strangely deserted, cars neatly parked all along the sidewalk.

The woman screamed as a gunshot rang out and the mirror monster dragging her across the floor, pitched forward, crumpling to the ground in a heap with a bullet in it's skull. She pulled her arms out of it's hold as it began to dissolve into dark dusty particles.

"You alright, miss?" the woman jumped at the shadow that loomed over her and looked up, feeling a wash of relief - it was a man dressed in army clothing, tucking his gun away. He offered her a hand up as someone charged past behind him and the woman stepped back sharply.

"Hm?" Dacian followed the woman's gaze towards the direction the blur had gone in. "Oh, she's okay - she's my partner. I suppose you want to get out of this place?"

"Yes, please," the civilian muttered and Dacian led her towards a nearby car. "Just press your hand to the glass," Dacian told her, hand on her shoulder. Nervously, the woman obeyed and the world dissolved around her like water reflecting shards of light.

0X0X0X0X

"Miss? Miss? Are you alright?" Her eyes flickered open slowly, her sight adjusting. She frowned; there was a cop standing over her, blocking the sunlight. He looked concerned, hand on the radio clipped to his shoulder.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as relief show on the policeman's face and he helped her sit up. "...What...happened?"

"You must have fainted." he said. "Do you need anything? A drink of water maybe?"

"Yes, please," she said, glancing around. She didn't remember being here... She had passed out next to a cop car and this street was sparsely populated. The few pedestrians were looking at her and the cop curiously. "Yes, water would be nice,"

* * *

><p>Grace's Bookshop - 10:23 am<p>

Michelle chewed her lip and checked her watch from the interior of the non-descript white van sitting across the street from Grace's Bookshop and checked the hours sheet they had posted above the panel of computer monitors.

"They're late," _What if we're already too late?_

Several customers had come by, peering into the dark windows of the store in confusion and moved on. The agents double-checked the tapes. "They were suppose to open at 8,"

At precisely 10:30 am, a small blue car pulled up to the curb and Trent jumped out of the car before it even fully stopped, pelting to the bookstore. The car parked and a moment later, Maya stepped out entering the now unlocked store.

Michelle sat back with a sigh of relief but then she frowned. "Where's Lacey...?"

"Agent Walsh," one of the men interrupted. "We should set up cameras inside the shop at some point. Perferably tonight,"

"Agreed," They hadn't done it this morning because they hadn't wanted to the employees running into them in the middle of the work. That would have been awkward.

* * *

><p>When Kit stepped out of the bathroom, Lacey had set herself up at the kitchen counter with her back facing the kitchen cabinets and shuffling through papers, muttering to herself. Len was hovering over her shoulder, his expression unreadable behind his sunglasses.<p>

"Len, you're back!"

"Mornin'," the veteran Rider greeted, looking up.

"Please, take him," Lacey said. "I don't normally do this kind of thing, so I need peace to concentrate,"

"Neva, Olivia and Dacian - "

"I know. They can handle it," Len said briskly.

Kit's brow furrowed. "But Olivia - "

"bisected a newt monster with teleportation when I tried to step in," Len interrupted again. "Dacian and Neva both have advent beasts and Evil Diver is still hanging around - they're fine,"

Kit blinked. "Oh, okay then."

Len turned to Lacey. "You're serious about this then?"

Lacey looked up. "Well, I can't do much - I might as well help you guys keep the story straight,"

"You can't go back,"

"I _know _I can't go back to being normal," Lacey scoffed." And I _know _I can't tell anyone - face it - would anyone believe me? They'd throw me in the crazyhouse,"

"Well, the Power Rangers were a big thing a few years ago," Kit pointed out.

Len pointed at Lacey. "You're Maya's research assistant,"

Lacey raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I will collect information. For the record, Maya's better at this than I am,"

"Is that Trent's laptop?"

"Yes and everything is encrypted. That means... coded right?"

"Against other hackers and viruses, yes," Kit confirmed.

"Great! I'll just...do that then,"

"Stay here," Len told her. "Please,"

"I don't want to get snatch by mirror monsters," Lacey muttered. "I'm not going anywhere,"

"Help yourself to anything in the fridge," Kit offered as Len dragged him to the mirror. "Wait, Len, where are we going?"

"We need to talk," he said. "Follow me," and he stepped through the mirrors.

* * *

><p><em>Wow, this chapter was a pain to write. :P One more chapter to go, I promise and then it's over! And then, I'll be focusing on finishing up some projects that I've kinda abandoned. I have four other projects - I think I'll finish two and the start the sequel to this. Because despite the lack of reviewers, this BEGS for a sequel. It's going to be a trilogy - hopefully when the Power RangersKamen Rider Dragon Knight cross-over gets up, it'll bring this story and it's sequel more hits._

_Please review!_

_*Kristophoros Taylor - I decided that there was no way 'Kit' was his birthname._

_*Len - Len Matheson (it sounds better than Len Matthews though there's little chance of Len's last name actually showing up in a story anytime soon. :P)_


	20. Battle Reprieve

**Disclaimer: A bow of respect to the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori and Adness Entertainment's Jimmy Sprauge and Steve and Micheal Wang, for their unified creative brilliance.**

_Private Thoughts/Flashbacks, "Radio/Cellphone", :Advent Beasts/Speaking through the Mirror:, _**"Vent Announcement."**

**A/N: ****Thanks to Kamen Rider Lynx for reviewing and being such a loyal review for the entire duration of this story. I appreciate it! :D**

**Thank to Katestar98 for the kind review and thanks to Kamen Rider Sting, Zatyme, Katestar98 and Kamen Rider Lynx for favoriting this story**

****Kamen Rider Sting, Catboy41, Katestar98 and Kamen Rider Lynx.****

******I offer (few) excuses for the long wait just fervent apologies (life happened and this chapter was just...a bear). Without further, chatter - the last chapter of Water Clock!******

******ENJOY!******

**Posted: **March 28, 2013

* * *

><p>Kamen Rider Dragon Knight<p>

Water Clock – Chapter 20 - Reprieve

* * *

><p>Earlier - 5:23 am - Kit's apartment<p>

Len shifted in the armchair, feeling a presence standing over him and moved violently out of his chair before he realized he was awake. The presence had moved when he did, standing a good five feet from the chair looking amused - he thought. He couldn't really see the person's face in the dark of Kit's apartment. Even though he crashed here, he still thought of it as Kit's place.

"It's me," Neva said, stepping closer. "Still wanna take my head off?"

"Don't do that," Len said instead, relaxing. "What is it?"

Neva clicked her tongue. "I'm sorry - did I wake you from a nice dream?" her voice turned more gentle. "Or from a nightmare?"

Len rolled his shoulders. "Never mind me - why are you awake?"

"I thought you'd be taking advantage of a bed - not sitting out here in a chair."

Len shrugged uncomfortably; he was still in his muscle shirt and jeans (one of three sets of day clothes he had all of which were black). He hadn't *intended* to fall asleep out here.

Kit stirred in his sleep; Trent didn't move.

"That's what I was wondering,"

Len sighed; of course Dacian was awake. He could see Olivia lurking by the door of Kit's room. "You three got a question?"

"I had a dream," Neva explained. "About Chris,"

"Really?" Dacian said, rolling over to face Len and Neva; Olivia wandered to the kitchenette where she could listen. "I did too - were you in my dream?"

"I saw you in my dream," Neva said. "I don't - "

"Then you were in my dream because I saw you! And Olivia but she looked a little lost,"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't see either of you,"

Len looked between the three of them, thinking. The Kamen Riders had been taught to hone their minds by the Advent Master - the advention gave them a little extra boost of psychical abilities and mental capabilities even when they were disarmed. They had learned to sense the advention auras of fellow Riders, Advent Beasts and Mirror Monsters and struggled with the nightmares that came from taming a violent mirror monster into a loyal advent beast.

But the advent beasts of the Espers choose *them* not the other way around and now they were having concurrent dreams...

"Tell me about your dream, Neva," Len asked.

She shook her head. "I don't really remember it. I saw a shark advent beast and Chris was talking to me but sometimes he wasn't...it was in bits and pieces,"

"Dacian?"

"Same here,"

"Olivia?"

"I don't know what those two are talking about. I was wandering through a hall of mirrors chasing a shadow,"

"Did you see them or Chris in your dream?" Len pressed. Olivia paused to think.

"Maybe I glimpsed them."

Len sighed. He wished Master Eubulon were here then maybe they wouldn't be in this mess. "Maybe, Olivia was dreaming about her advent beast," Len said after a moment. "And - "

"Chris said something," Neva interrupted, brow furrowed. Len glanced at her, his frown deepening.

"He said...keep fighting. He wants you to. He doesn't blame you,"

* * *

><p><strong>Ventarra – 11: 05 am<strong>

* * *

><p>Len took a slow breath and steadied his heart as Kit shuffled on his feet, full of nervous energy. The Espers were down below, proving that despite the lack of fancy interdimensional armor, they <em>could <em>handle themselves in a fight. He and Kit were standing on the roof of an abandoned school watching the Espers systematically annihilate the rest of the newt monsters.

Maybe, the guilt of losing another comrade - Chris - wouldn't quite go away and maybe Neva had been right about putting an asthmatic solider on the frontlines but with the Espers here he could be cautiously optimistic. There was a chance they could rescue Chris from the Advent Void - rescue all the Riders from the Advent Void and end this.

But right now, he needed to set aside that grief and the guilt and focus on leading this ragtag team to victory.

"I thought you wanted to talk," Kit said, interrupting Len's thoughts.

Len pushed his signature dark sunshades onto his nose and balanced one foot on the parapet, elbow on his knee. "Just watch,"

Olivia seemed to have trouble matching the skill of the newt monsters and couldn't find much opportunity to do any damage there so she went back to her routine 'teleport and bisection' attack. As they watched, Olivia teleported out of the way of a Gilnewt swinging it's oversized shruiken and the sudden lack of a target made the attacking monster stumble. Olivia reappeared behind it, teleporting again and taking its head with her. Then she reappeared again without the head and another newt monster collapsed.

Kit winced. "Uh...what happened to its head?"

Len didn't bother to answer, watching Dacian who had taken cover behind an abandoned car to reload. He struck a mirror monster who came through the car on the head with the butt of one gun and shoot it in the neck with the other. He then rolled away from the car and finished reloading the second gun before firing off a volley at two more monsters that were stalking up behind Neva. They collapsed, taking several shots in the body and head before they finally dissipated into black smoke.

The ground broke apart underneath Nevena's feet but she didn't move; the psionic shockwave spread outward, sending the remaining four newt monsters surrounding her flying. Two hit the fence of the school parking lot and the fence exploded into bits of shrapnel along with the asphalt, piercing the tough hide of the monsters as they dissipated into smoke.

"I wish she wouldn't do that," Len sighed.

"Blow up the pavement? Well...she doesn't have the fine control to just move things on purpose yet..."

"What do you think?" Len asked as Dacian jogged over to the girls and cheerfully passed high-fives around.

Kit tore his gaze away from Neva who seemed to be arguing with Dacian now, though she also seemed amused.

"Wait, was I suppose to be evaluating...anything?"

"You think there's a chance of us finding the Power Rangers? Who came up with that name anyway?"

"I don't know - they've been out of mind these past few years. It hasn't been mentioned in the news, that I know of...though the blog sites may have something worthwhile...why?"

"I was thinking of sending them to find the Rangers...but I'm not sure that's such a good idea. On the one hand, if they find them and convince them to help, we get reinforcements,"

"But on the other hand," Kit added. "They don't find the Rangers and the whole thing would be a waste of time and we'd be short-handed...again,"

"Or Xaviax already took care of them."

Kit winced. "And then there's that..."

Len paused and then straightened up, stretching his arms over his head. "I'm gonna go check out that manor. Make sure they don't get into any trouble while I'm gone,"

"Do you think it's a good idea to go alone?"

Len just gave him a vicious grin. "I've been doing this a lot longer than you have, kid," he said before vanishing into a discarded mirror on the rooftop.

Kit sighed.

"Hey, Dragonet!"

Kit looked up and then looked down; the Espers were looking up; Neva was smiling as she looked up at him, shading her eyes from the glare of the Ventarran sun with a hand.

"What, you're too badass to actually help?!" Olivia shouted up.

Neva just laughed. "Enjoying the show, Kit?"

Kit held up his hands. "It looked you were doing just fine."

"Need help getting down?" Dacian asked. "And no Neva won't try to levitate you down."

"Shut up!" she snapped, punching him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Jeeze, woman, what do you eat?!"

* * *

><p>Earth – 11: 23 am<p>

* * *

><p>"I thought I saw Len with you," Neva said as they made their way to their motorcycles, parking on an unusually busy street. Kit had to pause to reorient himself – usually, mundanes were strangely absent from the vicinity of their patrol space.<p>

"He was," Kit confirmed. "But he...had to run an errand,"

"I thought we were going on a field trip today," Dacian complained.

Kit shrugged. "He has a lot on his mind. Can you blame the guy?"

There were three motorcycles parked by the curb – Kit's, Dacian's and a black and silver one. "Who's – " Kit started, pointing at the motorcycle.

"Mine," Olivia said, walking over to it.

"Where's yours?" Kit asked Neva.

"Chris's motorcycle is too big for her," Dacian explained as the telekinetic Esper sulked. "She fell off this morning."

"Falling off once – "

"It's _always _been too big for you," Dacian interrupted. "I mean – " he waved at her. "Look at you! You're tiny!" He shielded himself as she scowled at him.

"Howcome __everyone else __gets a motorcycle?" she grumbled.

"Maya doesn't have one," Dacian said and he dodged another violent punch to his shoulder. "You know, if I punched _you _every time you said something stupid, they'd drum me up for domestic abuse,"

"And I'd tell 'em to fuck off 'cause it's good practice," Neva snapped.

"Well, that's good to know. Thanks, Nevi,"

"And Maya isn't a Rider – _or_ Guardian," she added as Kit opened his mouth. "She doesn't count!"

"I was just going to ask if you wanted to ride with me. Unless you wanna walk,"

"Are you three gonna keep squabbling? 'Cause I can always just leave without you," Olivia quipped, already ready to go.

"You have no patience," Dacian said, clucking his tongue as he settled on his own motorcycle. "Why don't you just teleport?"

"To maintain the illusion of normalcy," Olivia drawled. She finished inputting the coordinates of Maya's shop into her phone and revved the engine, disappearing down the street.

"I'll race you," Dacian offered, putting on his helmet and handing Neva hers.

"I've got a passenger," Kit said. "I'll pass."

"Suit yourself, lovebirds," Dacian grinned, zooming off before Neva could punch him again. As it was, Neva was reduced to scowling at his retreating back. Kit blinked owlishly and quickly shook himself.

"Are we going?" Kit prompted.

"Yeah, yeah, we're going," she said, sliding in behind Kit and sliding her helmet on.

"You mentioned you wanted to go back to the house?"

"You're a life-saver. Yes, to the house."

* * *

><p><strong>The Machine Fortress<strong>

* * *

><p>"Dr. Thomas Oliver." Xaviax waved his hand in front of the mirror screen, revealing a videofeed of a lab. A man with spiky-black hair wearing a wrinkled khakis and an untucked beige shirt was leaning over a bone in a pristine laboratory setting, carefully brushing the dust off of it.<p>

"He's been active on four different Ranger teams as six different Rangers. Hailed by some as the best Ranger to have ever lived."

"So what?" Danny snarled. "What's an old-timer got to do with this?"

"Well..." Xaviax paused, considering his next words. "We do need reinforcements."

James rested a calming hand on Danny's shoulder. "Don't worry – we'll avenge him." He looked to the General for confirmation who nodded.

"Neva's of no use to us now. You can have your revenge. Just don't get vented."

Danny smiled.

"But despite Dr. Oliver's rather useful skill set, he's been...stubborn,"

"Too risky to use him? Nothing to bargain with?" James asked.

"I've been considering other methods and I think I've come with a solution – inspiration from one of the Rangers former enemies."

"But...we're not using Dr. Oliver,"

"No. I think I'll have to do something distract to him – he's been fighting my control and I really not waste anymore energy. The Rangers are harder to simply drain than normal humans...so, drastic measures it is,"

* * *

><p><strong>11: 47 – Grace's Bookshop<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hey, guys," Trent greeted as the door jingled and Olivia and Dacian walked in. "Where are the others?"<p>

"I think Kit and Neva went off somewhere," Olivia said, glancing at the books. "Len went on an errand,"

"Well, Neva did say she wanted to go back to the house," Dacian said.

Olivia nodded. "Hm, I can't believe I forgot about that myself. Where's Maya?"

"Upstairs." Trent replied.

"You have an upstairs?" Dacian said.

Trent nodded. "She was supposed to be looking for some books but she's up there every since we got in."

"I'll go up and check on her," Dacian volunteered, heading for the back room and Olivia followed. Worried now, Trent tagged along after them and directed them to the door that led upstairs. It was really a closet with a pull-down set of folding stairs inside which Maya had evidently pulled up after herself.

"These things are kind of rickety," Dacian observed, testing them with his foot before heading up cautiously.

He emerged into a dusty space awash with dim light provided by naked light bulbs from the ceiling and sunlight came in from the windows. Boxes were pushed into a far corner and there were stacks of books piled by bookshelves. A mop and a bucket were in the middle of the room and the sounds of a broom scratching the floor could be heard.

"Maya? Are you up here?"

"Back here!" she called and the head of the broom poked up from between the shelves, being waved. "Achoo! Okay, don't wave dusty brooms in the air..."

"Hey, move it, solider boy!" Olivia yelled.

Dacian moved and a few moments later, Trent and Olivia had entered the dusty space packed full of boxes.

"Good, I need help," Maya said bustling over.

"Maya, what are you doing?"

"Kit's place is small," Maya explained. "And we need a proper headquarters,"

Dacian raised an eyebrow. "This is a proper headquarters?"

"I have to say..." Olivia said slowly, looking around the space skeptically. "I agree." It was spacious enough but there was very little sunlight coming through the dusty windows.

"Well, unfortunately, we can't buy a fancy manor and Kit's place is too small," Maya said. "Less dust, a few cots, a fridge, computers...it'll be nice,"

"Okay, I'm calling Lacey." Trent decided, pulling out his phone. "Because someone needs to watch the store and I'm not staying up here covered in dust."

"I can watch the store,"Dacian volunteered.

"Nice try,"

* * *

><p>The Safehouse - 12:13 pm<p>

* * *

><p>Dylan pulled himself from under the car as he heard the rumble of a motorcycle engine pulling into the attached garage of their ranch house and sat up as it came to a stop.<p>

"Who is he?" Dylan asked, trading his wrench for a hammer and pointing it at Kit as he and Neva got off the motorcycle and pulled off their helmets.

"Relax - this is Kit Taylor," Neva introduced, hugging the Rider around the shoulders. "Kit - this is my housemate, Dylan."

"He's not with that Masters guy is he?" Dylan asked and Kit looked horrified.

"No!"

"He threatened Kit's dad," Neva explained, eyes narrowing.

Dylan blinked. "Are you fraternizing with criminals or something?"

"I assure you that we will remain in one piece and no consequences shall befall the children," Neva said grandly, leading Kit inside the house.

"You didn't say no!" Dylan said, running after her. "Where were you? And Olivia? You just disappeared and you didn't call and the kids kept asking for you -"

"Snow is back!" a kid's voice announced and almost immediately, Neva was swarmed by at least eight kids under the age of ten harassed looking young adults right behind them. Kit leaped to one of the kitchen counter stools as Neva greeted them, patting them on the heads and teasing them.

Kit watched in amusement as they peppered her with questions and then someone noticed him; luckily they were successfully dispersed and lured away with cookies and playtime.

"I'll be out soon!" Neva called.

"How many kids live here?" Kit asked

Neva thought about it. "There's four more but they're nearer middle school. They'll go to the other house soon,"

"Other house?"

"For the older kids," Neva explained as Dylan returned.

"Okay, no more distractions," he said, sitting at the counter across from them. "Spill,"

"Spill what exactly?" Neva asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've already introduced you,"

Kit waved, not sure what to say.

"_What is going on?"_ Dylan hissed._  
><em>

Neva smiled pleasantly. "Family business," she said shortly.

Dylan kept staring; Neva kept smiling in that polite but 'let it go or I will have to hurt you' smile. Kit tried to be as still as possible in an attempt to be invisible.

Finally Dylan sighed. "Just don't get arrested and don't go missing and no hospitals for injury _or _death," Dylan pleaded.

"Of course. Not for myself,"

Dylan shook his head and left. "I swear,just because I was in a military training program, he thinks I'm some sort of kickass solider girl," Neva said once he was gone.

Kit scratched his head. "You know, I've never understood that. Were you in the military or not?"

"Well, it goes like this. My family is pretty much the epitome of the 'badass family.' Most of us are in some type of law-enforcement. I went to a camp founded by a former solider and I've had military training but no- I was never actually a solider,"

"Oh. Okay."

A silence fell but it wasn't exactly uncomfortable, each left to their own thoughts.

"Hey, Kit?"

"Yeah?"

"I get the feeling we get the day off today. You wanna hang out with the kids?"

The sounds of people moving through the house were muted to his ears but now he listens to the running water, the footsteps, the muted banter, the laughter. The kitchen was bright and open with doors leading to the backyard and children were running outside, playing with their guardians near by.

He hadn't felt so relaxed since his dad had disappeared.

Kit felt the tension roll out of his muscles and he looked up at Neva who was waiting patiently for his answers.

"Sure,"

* * *

><p>12: 45 pm - Ventarra<p>

Len stepped carefully through the crumbling structure of the manor, going through the rooms with a bag and searching for any clues that the Advent Master might have left behind. He paused by a familiar room in the corner of the manor's 2nd floor where the most light came through. His hand hovered over the doorknob for a moment before he turned and headed down the corridor.

* * *

><p><em>12: 46 pm - Los Angeles, Grace's Bookshop<em>

"You know, it would be a lot easier if I didn't have to lure a monster every time I wanted to use the mirrors," Dacian's voice complained as Lacey stepped into the newly discovered loft above the shop. "At least, I wouldn't have to make an epic journey across town just because Lacey thinks she'll get snatched by a monster,"

"Len told me to stay put and I don't want to get snatched! So, getting an escort makes perfect sense!"

"Did you lock the door?"Maya asked. Kit had installed a special lock (that would lock from the outside when a button was pressed and the door was closed) a few weeks ago when it became apparent people who didn't have his key would be going in and out of the apartment.

"Yup!"

"And you left a note?"

"Yes, Mom, we left a note," Dacian said and he was handed a bucket of soapy water and a mop. Olivia, Trent & Maya had taken care of the sweeping and dusting while Dacian was retrieving Lacey.

"Kit is with Neva and Len is off doing errands." Maya said. "So, get to work, army man!"

Lacey winked at him and began rolling up her leggings under her skirt.

Dacian sighed. "If you insist..."

* * *

><p>12:50 pm - Somewhere in Los Angeles...<p>

A blonde woman in black leather settled onto a white motorcycle, watching the remains of the gelnewt mirror monsters dissipate into wisps of dark smoke. She tapped a black deck with a stylized golden swan on her knee for a moment, eyes closed and head tilted back.

Only one advention aura she was feeling was familiar - the others were definitely Riders but there were others she couldn't identify.

_I see Xaviax has been recruiting_. she thought wryly as she slid her deck into her jacket pocket and slid her helmet over her head.

"Let's go venting," she said, feeling the familiar anticipation run through her as she shut the full-face visor, revved up the motorcycle and headed for the nearest road.

* * *

><p><em>AN: To be continued..._

_But this is the FINAL chapter of this installment!_

_AT LAST! I have finally finished Chapter 20 after much agony. I'm outlining the next bit in the series and it shall be called 'The Unsung War'. Don't be surprised if you don't see it for awhile; I have to finish up the semester and then I have a college sanctioned trip to Greece for 2 weeks in the summer. The college years aren't being very kind to me._

_Wish me luck, stay tuned and check the profile for updates!_


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